Somewhere in the Knight
by Maji
Summary: [G1Knight Rider Crossover]  The Decepticons have always been a threat.  Now they're tampering with the two most dangerous AI's the Knight Foundation has ever created...  This...  Is not a good thing...
1. Freedom

Disclaimer: Transformers and all characters there of belong entirely to Hasbro. Knight Rider and all characters there of belong to Glenn Larson. Team Knight Rider belongs to Universal Studios. The song lyrics belong to Jon Bon Jovi. Elizabeth is mine. Note that all crossovers bring on the longest disclaimers in the history of fanfiction...

Notes: This story is four years in the making... I finely finished it! It was done! All 150 pages of it! But I discovered something... Four years ago I had a completely different writing style. Frankly... It sucked... I've matured as an writer. Near the end I liked. The beginning I hated... I also noted a few characters that where just there to be there. They could be cut out and make the story better but unfortunately had managed to worm their way into the story way to much. (There was also one character who I decided I truly hated) Therefore before the first story ever sees the light of day... It is rewritten. After I finish this I might put the original up somewhere for laughing rights. However, I do hope everyone enjoys the new and improved version! Later when it's finished we'll all have a good laugh over the original. Also note that while the first chapter is very Knight Rider heavy that will change eventually. Hence why it now appears in the Transformers Category.

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_Chapter One... Not Alone_

_You ask about my conscience_

_And I offer you my soul_

_You ask if I'll grow to be a wise man_

_Well I ask if I'll grow old_

_You ask me if I've known love_

_And what it's like to sing songs in the rain_

_Well I've seen love come_

_And I've seen it shot down_

_I've seen it die in vain_

_Shot down in a blaze of glory_

_Take me now but know the truth_

_'Cause I'm going down in a blaze of glory_

_Lord I never drew first_

_But I drew first blood_

_I'm the devil's son_

_Call me young gun_

-Bon Jovi

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_Knight Industries labs California_

The sky wept... Streaks of lightning crashed over head, followed closely but the loud crack of thunder that caused all in the surrounding area to jump. Heavy rain pelted the parking lot of a Knight Industries research facility, driving those on their way home tonight to run across the parking lot, bags and coats pulled up over their heads in a vein attempt to somewhat remain dry in the absence of an umbrella. In the darkness most of the office workers and researchers where headed home, leaving behind a skeleton security crew and those dedicated enough to ignore the calls of families and the need for sleep.

_There are moments in our lives where we must make a choice. When our entire life changes so abruptly you're not certain just where it turned so wrong._

Lightening flashed again as three jets flew lazily overhead, circling the research center for several minutes. The lightning and thunder didn't seem to bother them as they slowly banked and dropped altitude, the roar of their engines cutting through even the harsh boom of the storm.

_Moments to decide if we want to flee and live to know what you could never accomplish or stand and die in the knowledge you did all you could._

As another streak of deadly lightning cut its way jaggedly across the sky one of the jets banked to the right plummeting like a silvery streak across the sky. The other two remained in their flight path for a moment more nearly unseen without the silver hide of the other one, a dark lavender and black the other a blue that blended well with the darkness.

_Moments when the best you could do just doesn't seem to be good enough for the rest of the world._

After only a moment the two remaining jets banked as well rolling and as the lightning flashed the three jets opened fire on the building causing its unknowing occupants to scatter for safety like rats from a sinking ship.

_It's these Moments in our lives that when all else fails and you have no one else to turn to you must turn to yourself and pull out a strength you may not even have known you had._

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_Autobot HQ - Oregon_

Sirens ripped through the quiet night air like some shrieking cat, through an open bedroom window. As one the entire assembly of Autobots quietly turned their attention to internal radios, frown crossing face plates as they listened to Teleram ramble on what information he had on the subject matter. Within' moments Teletram's monotone voice was replaced by Prowl, the tactician handing out orders and sending troops on their way.

It was a small raid. Teletram couldn't actually pinpoint what they might even be after. However, three jets had descended upon a research center in California and opened fire. "Three guesses on who that is and the first two don't count." Had been the basic attitude as the selected Autobots had transformed and hit the road as fast as they could move. Skyfire would have to take them in quickly. If they drove it the fight would be long over by the time they got there. As it was, they where already far to behind. The attack was a complete surprise...

The sirens died down as a deafening roar ripped through the air, as Skyfire taxied away from the Ark and took off, the massive jet pushing into the air. It was out of sight within' moments...

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_Knight Industries - California_

A light rain pattered on the glass skylights of a darkened garage in southern California, catching the full attention on the building's lone occupant. An ebony Trans-am idly watched as the lightning reflected off the streams of water that steadily down the window, accented only by the security lights by the doors and the lone crimson strobe that seemed to chase itself back and forth on the prow of the car.

It was amazing these storms... Some humans seemed to be afraid of them. How someone could be afraid of a weather pattern Kitt would never know... Storms never bothered him... He supposed it helped that his rubber tired insulated him from a lightning strike... That didn't mean his CPU wouldn't feel the surge. Still he was protected enough that it wouldn't hurt him.

Even with the impending electrical shock that was a possibility it didn't trouble him near enough to back up away from the skylight. Despite the wild storm that was building outside the safety of his walls it was peaceful...

Which apparently wasn't meant to last long... Just as his mind started to wrap around how peaceful it was the side doors of the garage snapped open with a loud bang and a disheveled looking Bonnie came running in.

Minus her normal greeting, she went straight for a terminal and sat down, quickly connecting the system to FLAG's database system.

"Bonnie?" Kitt questioned, when the heavy silence stretched on, concern hinting into his voice. "Is everything alright?"

Bonnie only sighed as she leaned back and shook her head. "There's a problem at one of the labs. I need you to run a search for everything that is being stored and tested at research facility 342." She instructed, her gaze never lifting from the screen. She seemed to be running a personnel search. The inventory was what would take forever. Kitt could do it in a matter of minutes. Kitt silently started the search, the Trans-am watching Bonnie as she fell to silence.

It was several minutes before Michael hurried into the room, followed closely by Devon. The silence remained as printouts slowly started coming in, Bonnie's personnel records coupled with Kitt's inventory.

Kitt felt an unpleasent sinking feeling developing in the pit of his fuel tank as he reviewed what he had come up with. This wasn't promising... At all... He knew that research lab...

"Devon, what's happening?" Kitt questioned, gaining a morbid gaze from Devon. "Apparently that lab is under attack..."

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_Knight Industries Labs - California_

Laser fire lit up the sky with the same wild light that the lightning had been creating only moments before. The only difference being that now the lights where a wild blend of multicolored plasma that left destruction in their wake, rather than the bright forks of lightning, that had yet to hit anywhere near the research center.

The lab was well on its way to being ripped apart by the time a third jet landed in a clearing less than a quarter of a mile away. The massive cargo bay doors dropped allowing the occupants to surge out, in a colorful wave of vehicles.

What had been the image of a trio of jets taking pot shots at a building suddenly turned into a full out battle. The vehicles on the ground, blended with the vehicles of the fleeing humans. Autobots moved quickly to avoid the humans that where still trying to get out of dodge, the remaining skeleton crew wisely deciding that they should clear out until the firefight was well and over.

Deep within' the lab alarms blared out steady warnings. Down in the basement labs, the battle outside seemed as distant as the rolling thunder. Only when a particularly close shot hit home did the compound rock and dust poured down from the ceiling above. Those where the only shots to call concern to the lab's lone occupant.

Every time he heard one he could picture the laser fire ripping through the ceiling and into his terminal. However, he worked on... It was absolutely amazing how he could do anything at all... If someone where to pass his office he would almost appear to be working on through the night as if nothing was happening.

However, almost invisible where the nervous glances he cast to the ceiling every now and again. As fingertips flew across the keyboard, a program appeared on the screen, the statistics to an ongoing project flowing across the monitor. Information and codes flew by faster than he could keep up with as the download process began.

His life's work was in this lab... He had been the sole programmer in the beginning. Now he worked here... He had been there with the developing of the new team. He had overseen failed projects... This had been one of them... The project had been unexpectedly placed in his hands a few years prior... The source had been vague... His orders where simply to deal with it as he saw fit. How he saw fit had been to rebuild his creation.

The project had been like a child to him. He had worked so hard on the initial programming. It had been like a kick in the gut when it was shut down. He couldn't even describe the relief he felt when it had been placed back in his possession.

He finally pushed back away from the screen as the download process reached a point that it could be left. He hurried across the room, a hand placed against the side of his project...

He grabbed hold of the tarp covering and pulled the heavy, military covering off and threw it aside. Underneath the high gloss black of a black over white Trans-am. He quickly snatched open the passenger side door and sat down, his fingers flying across the dashboard, flipping switches and activating systems that had been idle a few years now.

Little by little the interior lights began to light up, casting an eery glow across the dash. One by one display's flashed across the screen that was the tell tale sign that individual functions where beginning to come online.

He quickly got up and hurried across the room, sitting down at his desk once more, his fingers flying across the keyboard the steady tap, drown out by the high pitched screech of laser fire. For an insane moment he took the time to think about how odd it was. How different the sound of lasers where from gun fire. If he had heard a machine gun outside his door he may not have been so accepting. However the lasers made it sound so... Surreal...

He got up again, running back to the Trans-am, his hands flying as he quickly disconnected the Trans-am from the work station, the spider web of cables it had been attached to, tossed aside and it's hood slammed shut. He then hurried back over to the computer, a frown crossing his face as he set to another task. This one he didn't have much time for. He needed that disk... The programs from his computer. He needed to be able to stop his own project if it got out of hand.

Laser fire ripped through the building again though this time there was the low whomp of an explosion. The desk rattled, and the computer flickered, threatening to cut off and leave him in the dark. He quickly glanced back towards the Trans-am a heavy sigh let out. The Trans-am was now fully online. It would take the main program and memory files a few hours to reboot yet, but the computer itself was online. From across the room he could see the slow strobe of the Trans-am's amber scanner chasing itself back and forth. It was taking in its surroundings. He knew that. It was confused.

"It's alright." He called out to it gently, quickly hurrying through the keystrokes he needed to complete. "You're safe. We're gonna get out of here you and me. We're gonna get out of here and we're gonna be fine."

He wasn't sure who he was reassuring. Himself or the Trans-am. Another blast of laser fire shot through the air, this time coming through the ceiling and hitting the wall to one side of his lab. This time the Trans-am seemed to jump, the vehicle setting back on its shocks and rolling back until its back bumper hit the wall.

"It's alright" He called again, hands now shaking as they flew across the keys. He needed that disk... He couldn't risk going out into the world without it...

Another low whomp sounded... Laser fire ripped through one of the upper rooms as the battle raged on. However, this time was the final blow... The support beam collapsed... His gaze snatched upward, attention flying to the collapsing rafters. He was out of time... Effectively out of time.

In retrospect he supposed he should have attempted to move. Gotten to the Trans-am where he would have been safe. Drove away as fast as he could... Retrospect couldn't have prepared him for this... He couldn't move. Could do nothing but watch as a steel beam came at him. Then all he knew was darkness.

Distantly through the whine of laser fire a car horn beeped as the Trans-am attempted to wake him. The high pitched whine of a turbine engine turning over touched the air as the Trans-am cranked its engine and pulled forward until its prow hoovered over the fallen body. David Burns would not be getting up again. No matter how much the Trans-am prodded at him.

After a moment the vehicle backed off, his systems beginning to come to the point that he could scan for vital signs. It could already see that David Burns was gone. Slowly it backed away as laser fire ripped across the walls from up above. There was no way out...

That realization brought on a deep seeded fear... There really was no way out. Another low whomp and flames engulfed one wall of the room. The Trans-am quickly backed up away from it. Though through the flames... Freedom... A hole had formed in the wall. It could see the outside world. Engine surged, tires shrieking against the concrete of the floor as it surged forward. The flames stung for a moment as the heat licked at its sides... Only a moment of the intense heat and it was out.

It froze just outside the building for a moment, the cool night air coupled with the steady pounding rain a shock to its sensors. The scene was something out of a science fiction novel... Up above three jets flew in steady circles, pelting the surrounding area with laser fire. From the sky three other jets had appeared but disappeared just as quickly, unfolding into robots? It seemed to defy quit a bit of logic but there they where...

On the ground the same events where unfolding but from a different perspective. Vehicles unfolded into robots, stories high... That was all the Trans-am could take. It surged forward again flooring it as it sped out into the parking lot. It narrowly missed clipping a sign and a light post as it swerved to avoid abandoned vehicles.

A flash of read appeared in its line of vision, its vocals letting out the first sound it had uttered. A soft cry of shock as a crimson Lamborgini surged out of the woods. The exotic car snatched to the right, seeming just as shocked to see the Trans-am as the Trans-am was to see it. The ebon sports car slid to a stop, engine humming. For a moment it forgot about the battle raging on around it as Trans-am and Lamborgini silently stared at each other as if trying to make out what to think of each other.

It was a particularly close explosion that rocked the both of them out of their thoughts. The Lamborghini slowly unfolded into another robot, a rifle drawn and fired back. While it was distracted the Trans-am revved its engine and drove off into the darkness, leaving behind a very confused Autobot...

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_Autobot HQ Oregon_

"Hey Prime!" Jazz's voice rang out above the general chatter of the command room, the black and white Porsche leaning back in his seat enough to be able to spot Prime on the other side of the room. Prime's attention instantly turned from his conversation with Prowl to level steady gaze on Jazz. The sports car nodded towards the screen in front of him.

"Phone for you... He's not taking no for an answer either. You got a minute?" Prime sighed heavily, the very gesture suggesting that he did indeed not have a minute. However he still nodded, starting across the room. "Who is it?"

"Some old British guy." It was Blaster who spoke up that time, earning a fowl look from the normally chipper Jazz. "What he said."

Prime shook his head at the both of them as Jazz silently vacated the seat in front of the main terminal. Prime took his place and flipped a few switches, the image of a distinguished, elderly human filling the screen and replacing the standard Autobot symbol screen saver.

"Mr. Optimus Prime I presume?" Questioned the human, pulling a nod from Prime, though he felt inclined to quietly correct at least part of that assumption. "Just Prime please. What can I do for you Mr..." His voice faded off at that, the human instantly picking up the hint and supplying a name.

"Devon Miles. Board Director of Knight Industries and the Foundation of Law and Government."

Prime nodded a bit, the name instantly ringing clear in his memory banks. "Ah yes... The labs that where hit by the Decepticons last night... First off Mr. Miles allow me to offer my deepest apologies that we could not save the majority of the building. The government is willing to-"

He was cut off by Devon himself, the elderly man giving a slow shake of his head. "I'm not calling to discuss casualties of war with you Prime. Though the losses are great the cost of what was in those buildings are of little concern to Knight Industries in the grand retrospect of things. We in fact have a much bigger problem with what happened."

Prime nodded slowly, now curious as he silently leaned back, a nod given to suggest the human should go on.

"We have accounted for all of our research and experiments. All have been logged and taken inventory of but for two very specific projects."

That caught Prime's attention... He slowly sat up, his features remaining blank though there was a deep set frown behind his battle mask.

"The first we honestly are not sure why it was taken. It was one of our failed vehicle experiments... You are aware of these vehicles am I correct?"

"Yes I believe so. Knight Industries is responsible for the success of the Knight Industries Two Thousand am I right?" Prime questioned slowly, not entirely sure where this was going. He had heard the name before. Kitt he believed they called it. Called him rather... He had even seen the car once at a science convention aired live via satellite. He believed Wheeljack had actually talked to one of the programmers at that show though he hadn't gotten the chance to talk to the car himself. An artificial intelligence system built into a car for law enforcement purposes... He had also seen brief clips of FLAG from the news. After the success of Kitt they had created a new team. Team Knight Rider after a tag line that was often used where Kitt and his driver Michael Knight where concerned. It was an interesting concept though in his opinion not entirely likely that the humans could create such a thing. Though still, the fact that they could craft together something that was so lifelike was interesting. Though he doubted any of them where sentient beings. Honestly in enough he was rather disinterested in the project.

"Yes that is correct Prime. Kitt was our first success. I can not even begin to explain how proud of him we are." Prime fought to hide his smile behind his battle mask, though it still reflected in his optics. He knew that tone of voice. Despite the fact he didn't believe the Knight Industries Two Thousand to be sentient the pride in the voice of the human was the same he heard every time Ratchet and Wheeljack spoke of the Dinobots. That soft parental awe that showed up every time they saw their creations doing something new. Advancing to new programing barriers.

"I've heard of Kitt once or twice on the news... Very impressive. Though tell me, what all this has to do with the attack last night."

Devon nodded slowly, his proud expression turning instantly grim. "Well as I'm sure you know, a success like Kitt can not be made over night. There where failures..." Well that didn't sound good...

"That is what was being kept in that lab. The first... I'm not sure why they took him. To our knowledge it was a burnt out shell. The Knight Reformulation One was the first in our Team Knight Rider project. A project that was suppose to better the driver, vehicle relationship by scanning the personality of the driver and using the gathered information in the basic programming and personality of the vehicle. Unfortunately the head of the program at that point was a little to eager to get the ball rolling as some would say. He pushed a driver that was incompatible through. Martin was clinically insane. A fact that Marlin ignored. That insanity reflected directly in the car. Five people where killed before Kro was brought under control again."

That actually startled him. Prime sat back in his seat, attempting to let that information sink in.

"Our researchers decided that it was best to be careful than allow Kro to escape the labs... Again... The current team has already had to deal with a mistake in deprogramming the vehicle once. Through a series of events that are not relevant the vehicle was locked in a block of steel. Though it was feared his CPU might still have survived. The material used for the CPU casing is very resistant. Even to heat. It had taken them months to uncover the layers of steel. They had almost completed that. Though there is no proof that the car is even still active."

Prime nodded slowly and silently gestured for him to go on. "You said two?"

"Indeed I did. A project we did not even know existed... We found a technician dead in the basement of the labs after the battle was over. By looking through his files we discovered he had been working on the Knight Automated Roving Robot... The prototype of Kitt. To be honest I have dealt with Karr personally. He is the one who worries me the greatest. Prime these vehicles a force to be dealt with. There was a reason they where all shut down and it is not because they where to cuddly..."

"Warning acknowledged Mr. Miles." Prime stated simply, silently reaching up to key the signal away. "You have my word that we will do everything in our power to-"

"Don't you cut me off young man. Michael's done it enough times to know exactly what you're up to." Devon suddenly stated. For the life of him he sounded like an old man scolding a child. He wasn't entirely sure if it was because he had just been called 'young man' by a human or if it was because he had been called on his intent to cut him off... But his hand dropped.

"Now... The board insists on sending an operative up there to assist. These vehicles are primarily our problem and we certainly do not want to see them in the hands of the Decepticons."

"Mr. Miles that is entirely unnecessary." Prime protested. The last thing he needed was the Knight Foundation operatives scattered about the Ark.

"Very well Prime. Have it your way. We can either assist you... Or proceed with a search of our own."

Prime had to fight back a cringe at that. He couldn't protect them if they where out on their own. "Very well..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Los Angeles California_

The rain had slaked off... It was about time... After hours of driving it was certainly about time. Why in the hell it was raining so much in the middle of the dessert would be entirely lost on the Trans-am. It slowly crept down side streets of the busy city, its scanners wide open, so to speak. It was confused... It couldn't remember why it had come here... It was having a difficult time remembering where it had come from to begin with.

Knight Industries... That sounded right. It had come from there. No it had run away from there. But why?

The Trans-am would have frowned if it could as it pulled into a dark alley way. Not to far from it a drunk snored softly under a heap of blankets. The Trans-am slowly turned around in the tight space and backed into the relative safety hidden behind an old dumpster. The smell of fried chicken and grease that floated past its olfactory sensors told the Trans-am it was probably a KFC it happened to be parked behind.

It also recalled it had a name. Karr... That sounded right. It was also a he... Not an it. His name was Karr. That stood for something... He couldn't remember. Knight? Something... It didn't really matter. He seemed to recall that he had never been called what it stood for. It stood for something but Karr was his name.

The name David also floated past his mind. His CPU wrapped around the events that had brought him here but couldn't seem to make sense of the jumble... There had been a storm... Rain... Lightning... Fire? Giant Robots? He set back a bit on his shocks, a snort leaving his vocals. Right... His CPU must be more fried than he thought.

The rain had stopped entirely. The light mist that had been irritating him slowed to a stop and the skies slowly began to clear. At least something was going his way...

Several blocks away the streets where just as quiet as what surrounded the Trans-am. A lone figure quietly walked down the sidewalk, avoiding the sparse clusters of people that still milled about on the streets. This time of night those people where not the sort the figure particularly wanted to interact with.

The figure was decisively feminine, despite the bulky hoodie over blue jeans that where a couple sizes to big. Ebony hair hung, unkept, around her shoulders, eyes a dark brown. Features where pale and gaunt, just a bit to thin, hollowed features suggesting lack of a good meal in quite some time. Frown crossed her delicate features beneath the shadows of the hood she wore as she silently crossed the street to a small convenience store...

The door opened with the happy little ding of a bell that was tapped when the corner of the door passed over it, signaling her arrival into the store. Great... The clerk instantly glanced up from the newspaper he had been reading and nodded in her direction. She offered a smile and nodded back, a hard swallow given as she silently edged towards the back of the store. The elderly man behind the counter ignored her.

This wasn't exactly the way she had planned for her life to go. Not in the least. She was suppose to be famous by now... At this rate the only fame she would be getting was the fame of the wanted posters. She sighed heavily and stepped behind a rack, quietly grabbing as many of the contents as she could. Mostly dixie snacks... Twinkies and Moon Pies... Wonderful... She then grabbed a bottle of water from one of the coolers and shot her gaze up to the clerk again. He was still reading the newspaper. So far so good...

She gave a hard swallow, then held her breath as she moved towards the front. When he still didn't look up, she bolted. She ignored the chipper little ding as the blast of cold night air hit her as she took off across the parking lot. Behind her she could hear the clerk yell, both surprised and enraged as he rounded the counter. By the time he had wrenched the door open she was across the parking lot.

Unfortunately she probably should have checked the surrounding area... She had barely made it out of the lot when a siren pierced the night air. A quick glance over her shoulder told her what she already knew. Spinning blue lights, spun atop an older Crown Victoria. An older patrol car but still a patrol car. She cursed softly under her breath and put on a new burst of speed as she darted across the road. A loud horn suggested she had cut off a vehicle but she didn't care. As soon as her feet touched the sidewalk she was off like a shot again. The sound of the siren didn't fade, suggesting it was following her... Just great.

She cut down an alley way, dodging trash cans and the occasional person, sleeping curled up between the buildings. She bolted through on the other side, an entirely new street laid out before her. Unfortunately it also had the same problem as the patrol car sped around the corner, familiar enough with the area to know where that alley came out. She cursed softly and bolted again, taking another side street. She already knew that wouldn't hold him off but it led her out, ahead of the car that was doggedly following her. She pumped her legs as fast at they would go as she bolted down a street that was increasingly unfamiliar... This wasn't an area she was familiar with. She wasn't even entirely sure where she was. Unfortunately the officer chasing her seemed to know exactly where he was.

He was catching up again. She cursed again and ducked down another alley... And was surprised when the officer stopped as well, his car pulling up along side the decaying brick buildings, blocking the way she had come. The opening and closing of a car door told her he had left his car to chase her on foot... Considering his previous strategy that was surprising... Or rather it was until she hit a wall... Or a fence... Almost literally... She skidded to a stop with a frustrated cry at the sight of the tall chain link fence separating her from her freedom.

"Hey there now we don't need to do this..." She hated that... The police in this area spoke that way. Especially once they spotted that she was a minor. Firm once they got ahold of you, but until then they acted like they where your buddy.

"You're already in trouble, lets not add resisting arrest to it." He didn't even sound winded... Oh course he had spent most of the chase in his car. She was struggling to catch a breath as she backed up, attempting to decide if it was worth it to try to scale the fence. She backed up until the back of her legs touched something hard and metal. Low to the ground... A quick glance confirmed what she had thought. Someone had parked their car back here. Strange place to park it, though the alley was wide enough.

Didn't really matter. Wasn't her concern. The dim lighting hid the features of the cop infront of her but she could already tell he was young. Hesitant to. He wasn't sure if she was armed... The brief thought that she might be able to use that crossed her mind but was chased away quickly. Yeah that's what she needed. He definitely was armed and she didn't need to be shot because he thought she was. She slowly backed up further, ducking around behind the old sports car, to squeeze between it and the wall, quickly ducking down to huddle against the fence. She wasn't really thinking anymore through her panic. If she could stay away from him just a bit longer...

The sudden roar of an engine cranking cut through her mind as she lifted her head. The car had moved. Had the driver come into the alley? She slowly crawled back behind the dumpster, quietly praying the car would distract the officer for a few moments. Indeed it seemed to... From her vantage point she could see the officer take a few steps back. His hand snatched to the side, and for a moment she held her breath, for a terrified moment, afraid she was about to get caught in a cross fire. However, after a moment her fear proved unfounded as a beam of light lit up the alley. A flashlight. The beam snatched towards the car, shining through the windshield. Whatever was in there surprisingly caused a look of shock to flicker across the officer's face. He jumped back as the car surged forward a few feet, engine giving a threatening rev.

"Hey there ya'll keep it down! Some of us are tryin' to sleep!" The call from the huddled drunk behind the trash can would have almost been amusing if not for the situation.

The officer yelled something at the car, but she couldn't make it out over the engine. The flashlight beam kept on the area of the windshield, but the officer didn't seem to like whatever it was that he saw. The car revved its engine again and abruptly surged forward. This time the officer did go for his gun.

She let out a soft squeak and buried her head in her arms as the loud explosion of gunfire ripped through the air around her. A loud ping sounded as the bullets ricocheted off the car, burying themselves into the brick of the walls around them. That shouldn't happen... The officer seemed to know that to. His face paled in the dim light and he abruptly turned as the car surged forward again. He fled back to his car, the Trans-am giving chase. She could just make out a car door slamming and the sound of a patrol car taking off, before the loud bang of metal on metal told her the Trans-am had impacted with the patrol car.

She also noted that the drunk had enough. She spotted him jumping into the dumpster and out of the line of fire.

Though it didn't seem to be enough to stop the patrol car as she heard it speed off into the night. A few minutes later, a high pitched whine came closer, powerful turbine engines approaching. She chanced a glance up from her hiding place. Light filled the alley from the Trans-am's headlights, an eery amber glow tracking back and forth from an odd light on the car's prow...

That was it... She bolted from her hiding place, quickly taking ahold of the chain link fence. She sure as hell wasn't sticking around here if the madman behind the wheel had even scared a cop away. Even the sight of barbed wire at the top wasn't enough to detour her. She quickly scaled the fencing, only chancing a look down once she was at the top. Noone had gotten out of the car. It was parked beneath her and almost seemed to be staring at her. As if her actions where puzzling. Strange... But she wasn't about to climb down and ask the mad man why he wasn't chasing her. She carefully slipped over the barbed wire and jumped the rest of the way down. There was a soft rattle that told her she had just lost most of the food that had gotten her into this mess in the first place, the convenience store cakes and cookies slipping from her pockets. Now wasn't the time to worry on that...

A loud yelp left her as her foot twisted beneath her, the sharp pain telling her she had probably just twisted the hell out of it... But she wasn't sticking around to ask the madman to stop chasing her so she could see about her ankle either. She bolted. The pain leapt up across her ankle and up her calf with every step but she forced herself to keep running despite the pain. A loud screech of metal on metal touched her ears, along with the loud revving of an engine. Had he just? A quick glance back confirmed it and had her running faster. The car had just driven through the fence.

As she burst out of the alley, she found herself in vastly unfamiliar territory as the reason for the fence became clear. The city abruptly stopped into a construction zone. Towering, half finished structures rose up above her to suggest what they where building was probably yet another office building or a hotel. She didn't have time to think on it. This was her first lucky break. The madman couldn't take that fancy car into some of the small spaces that a construction sight was capable of and there where plenty of places to hide!

Unfortunately the driver seemed to know that. The Trans-am surged ahead of her, abruptly turning so that she almost ran right into the car's side. She instantly changed direction and took off, fleeing in the other direction. The Trans-am was right behind her. Unfortunately within' a second it was right in front of her. She once again changed directions, moving away from the car. It took her only a moment to figure out how futile this was. It also took her only a moment to figure out he had herded her... She skidded to a stop, near an unfinished brick wall.. Why where these things everywhere in construction sites?

She spun around, her back against the wall and huddled close to the ground as the car came screaming at her. She screamed and buried her face in her arms, trembling as she waited for the impact.

It never came...

Cautiously she slowly lifted her head, a deep gasp of shock let out. Inches from her face she stared into the amber light that slowly trekked its way back and forth. Her gaze slowly lifted, the gleaming black metal, giving way to the dark interior past the windshield.

"Why was that human chasing you?" The deep voice sent a shock up her spine, and was released in the form of a helpless squeak. Decisively male. Firm. Though strangely lacking in emotion and the separate ranges that most humans could find.

"Answer me." She found herself entirely unwilling to disobey that firm voice that seemed disembodied as it sounded from the car. Must have been some kind of speaker system... Cops had them but not that good...

"I-I was caught shoplifting... T-the cop was in the area." She stuttered, eyes wide as she stared in the direction of the windshield. "I'm sorry!" She quickly added as she pressed back against the wall. "I'll never do it again!"

"Shoplifting?" The voice said the word as if he had never heard it before. "The theft of an object from a store?"

"It was food!" She insisted pressing back as the vehicle edged forward. So close that the metal prow brushed the material of her shirt. "I didn't have a choice! Please..." She pleaded, closing her eyes against that amber light. "I was hungry and I made a bad choice. I'll never do it again if you let me go." She cried, the sting of tears forming in her eyes through terror alone. This madman could kill her just by tapping on the gas of his car and no one would be the wiser. There was no help for her out here. The only person that could have possibly helped her had been that cop and he had left her!

The voice was quiet for a long moment. He almost seemed to be considering that. "Survival is important..." It stated after a long moment. To her surprise the vehicle slowly backed away. She let out a breath of relief as the heat from engine faded once the prow had backed off of her.

"Survival is important to us both." The voice stated firmly.

"Yes I guess it would be." She rasped out softly as she quickly got to her feet. Her eyes darted around the construction sight looking for a way out. There was none that she could make it to easily...

"Then I will help you. You will in turn help me." The voice stated simply and the passenger side door, popped open with a soft click and a hiss. "You will enter the vehicle."

"Bunk that!" She stated and bolted, running past the car as fast as she could. She could hear the hiss of tires on dirt, the powerful engine surging as the car quickly surpassed her and spun around so that it blocked her path.

"We have already determined that you can not out run me. Why do you persist?"

She didn't think that worthy of an answer. She changed direction again and took off. The car once more surged ahead, this time coming in so close she couldn't stop in time. She let out a soft 'oof' as she hit the side of the car and fell to the ground, hacking and desperately trying to pull in the air that had been driven from her lungs.

"This is futile. We have a perfectly profitable relationship for the both of us. I need you to survive, and in turn I can help you to survive. Why do you run?"

"Because you're a psycho!" She yelled at the car, through coughs. She slowly stood up, and turned to attempt to bolt again, but the car was already moving. Before she had so much as taken a step it began circling.

"I am in no way psychopathic." The voice stated flatly. "However your mental state is questionable. Would you rather have spent the night in jail?"

She kept backing away as the car circled but it was keeping up with her easily. After a few minutes it stopped.

"Running is futile. Note only are you tiring, but you are slowing down. Your foot is injured. Enter the vehicle. We may continue this discussion out of the cold air. Your body can not take it."

She paused for a moment, as she considered that. She was freezing... Her hoodie was nothing compared to the cold night. He was also right about her foot. She had managed to ignore it through fear, but now that he had reminded her about her injury she could feel the sharp pain shooting its way up her leg. She swallowed hard and cast a glance around. There was nowhere to go here. She sighed heavily as the car clicked its door open again. This time she silently slid into the seat and shot a look at the driver.

Or lack there of...

She blinked and quickly glanced to the back seat. The car was small. It was a very fast search to confirm her first impression and let her mind fully grasp what had terrified the cop into fleeing.

No driver...

The last thing she remembered was the sound of her own scream blending with the sound of a revving engine as she gave into the terror and fainted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Autobot HQ Oregon_

The drive had been a long one... To make it worse, the storm that had been trailing its way over the west coast of California had changed direction and seemed to follow them up the coast and right into Oregon. The steady rain had kept the ebony Trans-am company for most of the trip, his driver opting to get some sleep while he could rather than watch the rain hit the windshield through the night.

Kitt didn't mind that. As a human his driver needed sleep to function. Though it had made the drive a lonely one.

Lost to his own thoughts, his mind had wandered down paths better left alone. Though it ended now... With the morning light, the rain had finely decided to disburse, leaving behind a somewhat humid heat of the midmorning desert. In the late afternoon the heat of course would burn away the humidity...

The desert itself had come to life. Fields, upon fields of wild flowers scattered the normally barren landscape, bringing creatures of all shapes and sizes out to enjoy the early morning bounty that the rain had already brought.

Unfortunately it also made for a devil of a trip when Kitt abruptly had to leave the paved road. It was absolutely amazing to Kitt that the road hadn't been paved yet... From what he could tell, from news reports, despite the fact that the government tried so hard to keep it all under wraps, the Decepticons made that difficult. The frequent attacks forced the Autobots to come out of hiding and deal with the threat, constantly. He would think they would have enough traffic to promote a paved road...

Though it was possible that few people actually knew the exact location of the Autobot base...

Several government signs attempted to detour his trip, warning of a zone off limits to civilians. If he had been a civilian he might actually have been worried.

"Michael wake up." He prompted, his voice instantly rousing his driver from sleep.

"We're approaching the Autobot base." He reported, that information gaining a nod from his driver. This early in the morning Michael was never all that talkative. He silently scrubbed at his face with his hands and stretched as far as he could in the confines of the vehicle. Despite how he looked he was now wide awake.

Ahead of them, a firmly closed gate prompted Kitt to pull to a stop. The chainlink fence that sprouted off of the gate, topped with razor wire he was sure detoured any curious reporters... He also imagined the warnings of the fence containing an electric charge also kept the Autobots within' fairly confident in their privacy. At Kitt's driver side door, a thin pedestal like thing slowly rose from a compartment hidden under the sand, a small green light glowing from the top. Kitt watched it wearily, gears silently changing to reverse as he prepared to get out of there fast. He knew they hadn't been happy about them showing up but this was ridiculous... A beam of light abruptly shot from the pedestal causing Kitt to flinch back, though rather than pain all that touched his sensors was the familiar tickle of being scanned. The beam slowly traced its way over him, probably giving the Autobots a good idea of what was at the gate. After a moment, that light seemed to expand before it went out, the top of the pedestal unfolding into a small monitor like contraption.

A face filled the small screen, the metallic features causing Michael to tense a bit, his grip tightening on the steering wheel.

"This is security officer Red Alert. You are entering a government restricted area." He informed them simply.

Michael sighed and silently rolled the window down. "I'm well aware of that. My name is Michael Knight. I'm the Knight Industries operative." Michael reported, silently reaching into his jacket pocket and producing his I.D. He held it up to the screen not entirely sure if that would do any good or not.

Apparently it did. The metallic face turned to the side, speaking softly to someone off screen. The absolute silence suggested that he had turned the mic off before he did so... After a moment he turned back to the screen and nodded.

"Proceed Mr. Knight." He stated simply, the gates hissing and screeching as powerful hydraulics pulled them apart. The pedestal instantly dropped back to hide under ground as the gates opened entirely.

"Well lets go buddy." Michael muttered, met only with silence as Kitt pulled forward through the gates. Behind him he could hear the hydraulics, once more closing the gates.

If that caused Michael any alarm he didn't show it, his full attention on the winding road infront of them, even though Kitt was the one doing the driving. The rain the night before had turned the dirt road into a proverbial soup...

Kitt's tires slung mud up along his side panels causing the Trans-am to let out a long, suffering groan. His first time meeting an alien race and he was about to do it caked with mud. Great first impression there.

Though that was proving to be the least of his worries as his rear end fish tailed dangerously back and forth, pulling him way to close to the ditch along the side of the road. He managed to straighten out, though it was proving more and more difficult to navigate the death trap the Autobots called a road. Though he supposed it was much different for a race who could transform and walk if the mud became to much.

Kitt didn't have that option... His only option was to push on as far as he could. Which unfortunately wasn't far. His spinning tires did little good as their movement forward, slowed considerably, until his tires only spun uselessly in the mud. He couldn't gain traction.

"Michael... I'm stuck." Kitt announced, prompting a chuckle from Michael.

"I noticed. No chance of you getting out of here?"

"Not without a tow... And I'm not about to use turbo boost after the gate... I can't scan this place and they probably have a missel locked on me right now." Kitt stated flatly, not sounding all that happy about their situation.

"Alright. I'll walk and see if I can get someone to come get you out of here..." His voice faded off as a figure appeared in the distance.

The rocky, jarring motion of it coming down through the woods suggested it was actually a vehicle. Well wasn't that just a wild streak of luck in the right direction?

As it came closer, Michael could slowly make out more about it. It looked to be an army Jeep. The thing was slugging it out with mama nature as it came up the impossible stretch of road, sinking in mud up to its fenders. When it came within' a few feet it stopped, the vehicle suddenly contorting and folding, reforming itself until it stood towering above them.

Michael let out the breath he had been holding and silently reached over, opening the door and stepping out into mud that he sank in to his ankles. "Hello there." The once Jeep greeted cheerfully, a disarming smile offered. Michael couldn't help but take a step back before nodding his own greeting. He had seen one transform once on the news... However, the news and having a giant robot standing there, staring you in the face was vastly different.

"I'm Hound. We figured with all the rain you might need a bit of help navigating. No sports car ever tries to tempt fate with this road after a rain." With that Hound outstretched a single hand, in a well known earthen greeting of a handshake.

"Good to meet you Hound. I'm Michael Knight." He offered, slowly reaching out his own hand. He noted with half amusement, half nervousness that his hand didn't even cover Hound's fingertips. Despite that, Hound's massive hand that could have easily picked Michael himself up, gingerly closed around the much smaller one, and did indeed gently shake his hand before pulling back.

Kitt gave a shudder, quietly noting the surreal experience. Hound turned his gaze towards Kitt, a bright smile offered. "This must be Kitt."

Michael smiled as he fell back on familiar territory and nodded, sweeping a hand towards the Trans-am. "That he is. This is my partner the Knight Industries Two Thousand. We call him Kitt."

"Pleased to meet you." Kitt said quietly, gaining another smile from Hound. The Jeep seemed surprised. Apparently they hadn't expected the earthen vehicle to be able to speak as he did.

However, he seemed to shake off the surprise quickly enough. He moved to kneel in front of Kitt, another disarming smile given. "Need some help there?"

Kitt let out a huff, oddly put off at the thought. The fact that he did in fact need help was currently lost on the Trans-am as he briefly attempted to back out of the pot hole, that he could have handled if the road wasn't so slick. "Actually... I'll be able to get myself out of this mess, if I can be assured that I will not be considered a threat for the use of turbo boost." Kitt responded, another huff let out as he slid right back into the dip in the road.

The Autobot was friendly... It would be easier to be irritated with the situation if he wasn't. He decided that right away. So much easier...

They had been instructed by Devon that above all else they where to be polite and cooperative with the Autobots. To put their best foot or tire forward... To humor them. Though at this point Kitt realized Hound probably had the exact same orders...

Hound seemed to think on that for a long moment, then gave a nod. "Go ahead. Can't see where it would do any harm." He offered, stepping back out of the way.

Kitt revved his engine once in thanks, then went through the well known commands to prompt turbo boost...

In retrospect... It may not have been such a good idea to ignite high compression cannons meant to lift him off the ground while they where submerged in mud...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun was just breaking its way over the mountains as the inky blue sky spread into the clear pastel of dawn. Optimus Prime silently watched the wild array of color that spread out across the sky with some amount of respect and awe. These where colors that would have never been possible for a Cybertron sky. As much as he missed his home, there where certainly perks to living on an organic world.

At his side Prowl stood in silence, his blank expression refusing to give away if he thought the same or if he was simply ready to go home. At his other side stood Jazz, the saboteur quietly tapping his foot as he hummed some song or another to himself.

"It's taking them a while."

Prime snatched his attention to his second in command, a slow nod given in response. "Yes it is..."

They had gotten the call that the Knight Operative had arrived not long ago from Red Alert. It had been Jazz that suggested sending someone out to meet them, after getting his first look at the little car that had pulled up at the gate. Jazz himself had to transform and walk to the ark when the road was as bad as it was. There was no way that Trans-am was going to make it.

Though that had been nearly twenty minutes ago... They should have been back by now with Hound's help...

"Primus..."

Prime's attention once again turned to the road, to where Prowl's attention had suddenly caught. At his other side even Jazz had stopped his humming and stared. Hound was coming up the road in vehicle form. By his somewhat jerky motions they could tell he was pulling something. Not far away from him a human was walking. Looking rather disgruntled judging by his posture. Behind Hound a Trans-am was being pulled by a chord that attached the Trans-am to Hound's back bumper.

That wasn't what caught their attention.

All three of them had every square inch absolutely covered in a thick layer of mud.

The only one that seemed to be taking it in stride was Hound, his soft laughter at the situation reaching them as he drew closer. Once he had pulled up a few feet from the waiting commander and officers he stopped and backed up a few inches. The chord turned out to be a grappling hook. Once it was released it quickly snaked back beneath Kitt where it had been, the disgruntled Trans-am letting his engine briefly rev as Hound transformed and stepped back.

Prime was the one to first get over the shock of the rather... Ragged looking group. "Greetings. I am Optimus Prime. Leader of the Autobots." He said with a diplomatic bow of his head, which the human returned.

"I'm Michael Knight the Knight Industries operative." Michael stated simply and gestured a hand back to the car... That had once been black... Now a rich mud... "This is the Knight Industries Two Thousand. We call him Kitt."

"A pleasure to meet you." Kitt stated flatly, sounding more than a little displeased with the fact he was covered from fender to fender in grime. "Though that pleasure to meet you could have certainly done without the mud."

Michael rolled his eyes and shot a quiet glare back at his car. "And who's idea was it to try and turbo boost out of there?" He pointed out. That shut the car up, the both of them looking more than a little frazzled.

Jazz couldn't hold back his snicker, the saboteur shaking in his mirth beside Prime.

"I apologize for the state of the road Mr. Knight." Prime offered quietly, though he fought to hold back a laugh of his own. "We're in the process of acquiring funding to pave it." Though if it was going to cause more shows like this, that funding may be a LONG time coming.

"Mr. Knight if you will follow Jazz he will take you to an area where you can clean up if you wish. I imagine that's not all that comfortable." Prime offered, gaining a grateful nod from Michael. He silently reached into Kitt's backseat, mindful of the interior as he took a hold of an over night bag. So long as he could change somewhere...

As for Kitt... "Buddy ya look like the bad end of a demolition derby."

"Funny..." Kitt muttered, his voice suggesting his sense of humor at the moment was somewhere around arctic...

Prime's gaze swept around to Kitt, pulling a brief flinch from the Trans-am. "Likewise Kitt... If you will follow Hound..." The Autobot leader sounded as if he wasn't entirely sure where he stood with the Trans-am. It came as somewhat of a shock to realize that Prime's behavior was directly parallel to the behavior of many humans upon first meeting him. That hesitant uncertainty and the wish not to be foolish and speak to a machine. Like any human, Kitt imagined hearing the emotional pitches of his voice came as somewhat of a shock. That... Stung a bit... He couldn't exactly explain it but it did. Not that these people where his own kind but he had hoped another machine would at least see scanner to scanner with him.

Thankfully he was cast off from any further thoughts as Hound suddenly started off, gesturing for Kitt to follow. The Jeep didn't return to his vehicle form, leaving Kitt to tag along behind him, the Trans-am shifting into drive and easily covering the distance of Hound's massive strides.

Prime silently watched the pair leave, his faceplate hiding a deeply set frown. He supposed that could have gone better. He had no idea how to take the sports car... He had read about the car. Even heard him speak once. He had never expected the thing to sound so alive...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Los Angelus California_

The fact that a beam of light was shining across her face was possibly the first thing that seeming to register in her mind. A very annoying beam of light...

She let out a soft groan of protest, scrunching her eyes shut as she twisted around to face the other way. That brought along the second thing that she became aware of. She wasn't laying down. She was in fact, seated. In what felt like a car seat, though she could tell they where not moving. Despite the fact that it was a car seat she was still hesitant to rouse from her dream like state to quickly.

The soft leather was surprisingly comfortable. The seat was laying back in a reclining position, that seemed to simply shift and fit her no matter what way she turned. No matter how she twisted she was still comfortable. An amazing little fact that she logged to memory.

Now that the annoying beam of light was gone she chanced to open one eye and take a glance around. She was indeed inside of a car, reclined in the passenger seat. The car itself seemed to have been parked in an office parking garage, the offending beam of light coming from the outside. That however set her mind into asking the next very logical question.

"Where am I?" She wasn't aware she had even spoken out loud until a low familiar voice sounded from seemingly everywhere. "Do you have no memory of last night?"

The disembodied voice was enough to force every second of the night before back into her brain at light speed. She instantly sat up, a scream let out that echoed through the car like a gunshot.

"Stop that." The response was so flat and firm she actually responded, staring wide eyed at the dash board. There was a monitor mounted in the center that had lit up when the voice spoke, amber lights that matched the one she remembered as being on the prow, jumping in response to that flat emotionless voice. That, she decided, was his face. Rather it was what she would direct her attention to when speaking for the moment.

"Who are you?" She demanded, her body pressing back against the seat as if she could possibly sink right through it and out from under the watchful gaze of a sports car.

"I am called Karr." It stated simply. No not it... He... The car had a distinctly male voice. So it was a he.

A hand shot out and tried to door handle beside her. To her surprise it opened with an agreeable click. A surprise to say the least. She had expected to be locked in after what had happened the night before.

She didn't waist any time to think about it... As soon as her feet hit the pavement she bolted, footfall pelting against the asphalt floor of the garage. She reached the elevator within' seconds, a hand insistently hitting the button to call it to their floor. Only when the doors cheerfully slid open and that horrible elevator music floated out did she chance a glance back. The car was sitting where she had left it, scanner chasing back and forth as it watched her go. Why wasn't it chasing her?

She frowned as she stood in the doorway of th elevator, ignoring the insistent ding, that she let it go on its way, instead holding the doors open. Still the car seemed to stare at her. Throat briefly constricted in a hard swallow, stepping away from the safety that the elevator provided as she let it go. The doors slid closed again, her safe haven leaving her as she curiously stared at the vehicle that had taken her hostage.

"Hello?" She called out as she carefully stepped off the curb, her slow steps taking her back into the direction she had come. The car remained silent. The thought of a talking car was in fact enough to try and convince her that she had imagined the entire thing... However, her firm grasp on the situation and denial that she was not in fact losing her mind just would not allow it.

This went entirely against her better judgement... She should have turned tail and headed back to the elevator. She should have possibly even gone for the stairs... Get out of there. Get to a security guard, or find a cop even though it meant she would be spending a night in jail... The crackle of the food she had lifted from the store the night before, in her pockets was the absolute last thing on her mind... Hell for all that she had dropped most of it when going over the fence.

Still... She had to know... Her footsteps slowly took her closer to the car. The lights from the garage gleamed off of its ebon hide, throwing across brilliant patterns highlighted by the sun streaming in behind it. It was a nice looking car... He was a nice looking car... Her mind refused to grasp around that. The car may have a male voice but he was still an it in her mind.

"Hello?" She called again, her steps taking her steadily closer until she was only a few feet from the vehicle. It didn't really surprise her when the passenger side door quietly clicked open and swung wide. As if it knew she would be curious enough to return...

"Forget that." She stated flatly, staring at the door as if it just might bite her. "I want questions answered."

Again the door waved at her, almost impatiently. It slowly dawned on her that standing in the middle of a garage, speaking to a car wasn't exactly looked upon as sane behavior... The car refused to speak again until she got in. The occasional occupant of the garage, traveling back and forth to the connected office building was enough to at least cause one or two strange looks shot their way. It made sense that the car wanted to avoid the attention she supposed...

She slowly moved closer until the material of her jeans brushed against the metallic surface of the car, squinting as she attempted to see through the windshield. She had been inside the car. She knew there was no one in there but her mind would not grasp around that possibility. There had to be someone in there. The door gave another impatient wave and she stepped around towards it, a firm grasp taken on the door as she ducked her head and peered inside. Just as before there was no one there.

"Hello?"

"Get in the vehicle." That same voice... "We will finish this discussion."

"I look like I was born yesterday?" She shot back, eyes narrowing as she stared into the empty car.

"That question is irrelevant. However, you do not look as if you where born yesterday. You appear to be roughly sixteen years of age." The voice stated flatly, seeming a bit irritated.

She blinked for a moment, looking as if she wasn't sure she had heard right. "No... That's a saying... Ya know like... Do I look stupid to you?"

"How does one look stupid?" This time the question was honestly bewildered. It caused her to force back a smile, a slow shake of her head given.

"Never mind... Just... Why would I want to get into the vehicle?" She questioned plainly, hoping to get a straight forward answer this time.

"Because I can help you. You needed a safe place to spend the night. I saved you from the human that was chasing you. I also need your help." It explained, as if that was perfectly clear.

She frowned and slowly sat down in the passenger seat, though kept her feet firmly planted on the ground outside the car. "Right... So I help you, you help me that's the deal? What could you possibly do for me?"

"More than you think. Think of me as the genie in the magic lamp."

She let out a soft snort, that turned into some form of laughter, grin crossing her features. "You know I read a story once. I think it was Edgar Allen Poe... There was a monkey's paw in it. You made three wishes on it. The thing was every time they made a wish something horrible would happen to make it come true."

That caught Karr of guard. He was silent for a long moment as if thinking that over. He was rather impressed... The humans he had come in contact with before had always been so simple to sway and manipulate. He rather liked the challenge of this one.

"True. Perhaps it is simply an act of making the wishes more specific of how they want them to come true."

She seemed to think on that and nodded slowly. "Maybe..." She slowly pulled her feet inside, allowing the door to shut as she chanced a glance around the interior. The word K.A.R.R. was printed on the paneling just below one of the monitors. He had said that name before hadn't he? "You said your name was Karr right?" She questioned softly, her gaze darting to what she had deemed as his 'face' once more, watching as the lights lit up in time with his voice.

"That is correct."

"I'm Elizabeth." She said quietly, as she leaned back in the seat. "People call me Eli though."

"It is pleasure to make your acquaintance Eli."

That pulled a giggle from Eli, smile crossing her thin features. "No its 'It's a pleasure to meet you.' or 'Pleased to make your acquaintance.' You can't blend the two."

Karr had no further comment to that, leaving Eli to cast another curious glance around the vehicle. She shouldn't have been accepting this so rapidly... She was in a talking car... A talking car that had kidnapped her the night before. A talking car that she was now trapped inside of...

That reminded her of something... "Where you gonna let me go? Ya know when I got out a little while ago?"

"You are no use to me if you are entirely uncooperative. I did what I did last night because you where panicking."

"I was not!"

"Eli..." Eli flinched at the firm tone, despite the flat emotionless voice she had to note that it sounded like her father when trying to reason with her. "Your pulse rate and blood pressure skyrocketed. You could not listen to reason in that state."

She didn't really have anything to say for that. He was right... As much as she liked to think that wasn't the case. As much as she liked to think she was tougher than that, he was very right.

"Alright fine... But if you where chased down by a car, you would have been scared to."

"That... Is another matter entirely." He stated flatly.

Oh yeah... He was a car...

"Right..." She muttered and sighed, leaning back in the seat. After a moment of silence a soft rumble sounded its way through the car. She blinked, for a moment looking around for the source, until the sound let out again, this time accompanied by a familiar pinch in her abdomen. Oh yeah... The reason she had been running in the first place. She was hungry. She rolled her eyes and shoved a hand into the pocket of her hoodie, hoping at least something had survived.

It had in fact... A very squished Twinkie and a Moon Pie was produced. "Breakfast of champions." She muttered softly, opening the plastic of the squished Twinkie.

"That product contains much more concentrated sugar than is considered a healthy amount."

"Thanks Mom I'll remember that." Eli muttered, not really concerned as she tried to eat around the squished substance. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. Do you think I would have pulled what I did last night if I had any other choice?"

That seemed to shut him up at least. A heavy silence fell over them both as Eli silently finished her Twinkie and stowed the Moon Pie away for later.

"So where do you come from anyway? I don't think Pontiac has quite gotten down putting an actual brain in a car."

"You are very correct Eli. I am the prototype for the car of the future."

"So what you're like... The first or somethin'?"

"That is correct. There are others that came after me, but they are only copies of the original design."

"You got any family then?" Eli questioned, her fear of the situation entirely dissolving into keen curiosity.

"Not as you would call it... My memory is yet unclear of those events of my life. However, I seem to remember my creator being a man named Wilton Knight."

"So he's like your Pop." Eli concluded. Karr could only agree. To her standards as to what she would understand that was exactly his relationship with Wilton Knight. His memory banks had yet to entirely grasp around those events... However he could feel a strong sense of betrayal when thoughts drifted to Wilton... He could only trust those instincts.

"What of you and your own creators?"

Eli made a face at him, confusion clouding her features. "What you mean like my parents? I don know their still back home in North Carolina I guess."

That came as a shock. Even to Karr's systems. A minor had crossed the country? "Are they not worried for you?"

Again Eli made a face, as she leaned back, a non committing shrug given. "I don't know... Maybe. I don't care." She stated flatly, the glare she shot the monitors enough for Karr to drop that line of questioning.

The silence drew out for several long moments before Eli thumped her head back against the seat. "So what now? I mean, how am I suppose to help you? Do you need food or something?" She questioned, frown crossing her features. Stealing gas was a bit more high profile than steeling a Moon Pie from a seven eleven.

"I do require fuel and will require it soon... However I believe we first need funding."

There was the catch. "And how do you propose we get that all seeing one?"

"Leave that to me. It is time we moved on." With that the sound of a powerful engine turning over, cut through the air as the Trans-am moved out of its parking spot and pulled around to exit the garage.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Decepticon HQ Pacific Ocean_

Light was just starting to spread out across the ocean when the otherwise calm water was broken into sharp waves, a massive metallic structure bursting through the serf. Foam clung to the sides as gravity sucked the water back down into the ocean, a powerful undercurrent forming around it, pulling in a hard undertow.

In the predawn light, three jets slowly circled as the top of the structure unfolded and flattened out, the rounded top becoming flat as it unfolded into an area roughly the size of a football field. Rather than land the jets banked together, a massive block of steel held between them, suspended by chains.

In mid air, the three jets seemed to fold and contort in on themselves, twisting unnaturally until robot flew, where jets had moments before. From there they slowly lowered the block down, the massive object hitting the deck with a dull thump.

"Excellent." The somewhat hissed voice sounded from a much taller figure, silver armor throwing of a wild array of light in the morning mist. "For once you have succeeded in what was ordered. I'm impressed."

The underhanded compliment was caught immediately, though at least two of the three chose to ignore it. However one, simply couldn't...

"Of course mighty Megatron. We have succeeded in what you yourself where afraid to do." Starscream commented with a sneer. Behind him Skywarp and Thundercracker rolled their optics heavenward.

_Wait for it..._ Thundercracker sent to Skywarp along their private radio link. His response was justified. A resounding clang rang out across the deck, followed by Starscream hitting the deck and a soft, restrained snicker from one of the other gathered Decepticons. Probably Rumble or Frenzy.

_You called it. Just couldn't leave it alone could he?_ Skywarp sent back, amusement touching the edges of his voice. If there was any further argument Megatron cut it off before it began. Their leader stalked over to the massive block and stared at it for a long moment, thoughtful expression crossing his features.

"Megatron why did we pick up an old hunk of steel anyway?" This time the question from Skywarp. Oddly enough from him the question was taken more easily. It was with the taste of possible treason that caused questions not to sit well. The Decepticon leader nodded slowly towards it. "Did you happen to pick up anything from it?"

"A very weak signal trace. That's it."

"Very well. Everything will be explained in due time... Constructicons!" The Constructicons stepped forward, and silently lifted the steel hunk that the seekers had so unceremoniously dumped on the landing deck, the object loaded up and taken away before another word could be said. They had their instructions...

That done Megatron turned and leveled his gaze on Starscream, smirk crossing his face plates. "Where is the other one?"

The look that crossed Starscream's face was an odd jumble of confusion and panic. "Other one?"

"Yes the other project. There where two separate energy signatures. Where is the other one?"

Skywarp and Thundercracker quickly turned and husseled out of there. That wasn't going to be pretty... Though it would lead to a massive 'I told ya so' later from Skywarp.

_Told you I was picking up something else_. Was all that was sent on the matter, via a private radio signal from Skywarp to Starscream.

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Something to Prove

Disclaimer: Transformers and all characters there of belong entirely to Hasbro. Knight Rider and all characters there of belong to Glenn Larson. Team Knight Rider belongs to Universal Studios.

Note: It will be a bit more clear later. Though right now it might not be. This story is set in the year 1999. A couple years after the start of Team Knight Rider and almost twenty years after Kitt was first activated. Which means Karr has been out of action for a very long time for any who are wondering. So anyway Rock On!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Autobot Head Quarters Oregon_

The beating heat of the high noon sun rolled over the dessert like a heavy blanket, throwing off the colors of the dessert like some wild quilt of reds and browns. Optimus Prime silently surveyed the surrounding landscape, his attention focused on the simple set up that Wheeljack had come up with. He noted with some mounting amusement that Wheeljack seemed absolutely facinated with the little car that had pulled up to their base not to long ago. He had been quick to suggest a demonstration out on the mesa.

It had been a few hours since he had sent the pair off in different directions, Kitt tagging on the heels of Hound and Michael deeper into the base to seek out Spike or Sparkplug. He hadn't seen them since. Not that they hadn't been around... Hound reported that they had sprayed Kitt off and sent him on his way a much happier car. From there Wheeljack had sought him out. The two had only spoken to each other once at a science convention but he imagined that a giant alien from Cybertron was just as memorable to Kitt as a talking earthen vehicle was to Wheeljack. The Trans-am was now very content to tag along behind Wheeljack. Michael was still somewhat obscure, though Jazz reported that he had been with Sparkplug and Spike most of the morning. Probably gathering a fairly good idea of the Autobot activity from a human standing.

"Prime?" Prime's attention was torn from the terrain, full attention on Ironhide in a moment.

"Mr. Knight and his car say their ready for whatever ya got planned for um." The elder autobot drew out, slow nod given towards the 'track' that had been set up. "That what Wheeljack came up with?"

"Yes Iron Hide it is..." Prime mused slowly. "Tell me old friend, what do you think of these two strangers?"

"The human is likeable enough. He's got a good head on his shoulders. Old enough to know better is I believe what the humans say." Ironhide stated slowly.

"And the vehicle?"

"Ain't natural." Prime shot the elder Autobot a level look but nodded. He couldn't berate him for thoughts that had crossed his own processor.

"I'll admit I'm not entirely certain of the situation. I suggest we hold off judgement until after this demonstration."

"I don't mean the demonstration Prime... Have you heard it talk?"

Prime heaved a heavy sigh and nodded. "I'll admit the Knight Industries Two Thousand is impressive. I didn't expect to hear it speak any more than an affirmative every now and again. That seems to be the extent of most earthen computers."

"Oh he talks alright. Quite the little chatter box. He and Wheeljack have been in the rec room for the past half hour going over schematics for something or other Wheeljack's been workin' on."

"Any idea of what they have-" Prime's voice cut off abruptly as he picked up organic life forms approaching. Three of them. This close to base he didn't even have to wonder who they where. "Good afternoon Mr. Knight." He greeted, silently turning around and nodded a quiet greeting to Sparkplug and Spike. The two stood at a distance, very willing to keep out of this so long as they could. The idea of a system from earth, this advanced was disturbing them a bit, though Prime couldn't begin to understand why... Spike had almost grown up around intelligent computer systems... Sparkplug himself had been around the bend so to speak with them.

"Hardly call it Afternoon yet." Michael responded and shrugged. "And cut out the Mr. Knight. My name is Michael."

Prime nodded in response, having to suppress a chuckle. As uncertain as he was about the Trans-am, he liked the human just fine. Reminded him of some of the younger warriors, despite the fact that on an earthen equivalent Michael would probably be about his own age.

"So whatcha got goin' on out here that requires my attention?" Michael questioned, hands clapping infront of him and rubbing together as he surveyed the area.

"It seems Wheeljack has set up something that will allow us to better see the abilities of the vehicles that where taken."

"In other words Wheeljack wants to see what Kitt can do."

"That is correct Michael." Prime droned, though the briefest reflection of amusement crossed his optics.

"Well Kitt always was one who didn't mind showing off a little. I'd call him for ya but I'm out of contact while we're here." He offered, a sheepish shrug of his shoulders given. "Kitt says there's a great deal of led in the material that your base is made out of. He can't scan more than a few feet. Also means I can't patch through to him on the com link."

For whatever reasons that information seemed to cause a glint of amusement to travers between both Ironhide and Optimus Prime. "Wheeljack, is the Knight Industries Two Thousand with you?"

Michael blinked, for a moment considering the fact that Prime wasn't exactly the voice of reason he portrayed. His gaze was neutral, staring into the distance as he spoke to the air.

"Internal Radio System." The whisper came from beside him, Spike speaking up for the fist time. In all the time Michael had been with them, it had been mostly Sparkplug that had done the talking. "Took me a bit to get use to it to. He's on the radio." He explained softly. That seemed to explain itself in its entirety as a small light on Prime's shoulder lit up, the tiny voice of Wheeljack coming from that area.

"Yep he's here. Want us to come out?"

"Yes please Wheeljack."

"We'll be out in a click. Wheeljack out."

"They are on their way." Prime announced, rather unnecessarily.

Michael nodded absently in response, frown finding its way to his lips. "Kitt."

"I beg your pardon?" Despite the fact the Autobot leader had very little to go on in terms of facial features and expression, he still managed to look clearly questioning as his gaze turned down to the human at his feet.

"His name is Kitt. You keep calling him the Knight Industries Two Thousand. That's what he is, but it's not who he is." Michael responded.

Prime only offered the human a rather skeptical gaze, though didn't feel the need to argue the point. He wasn't entirely convinced. However, if it kept them happy and content...

His thoughts where broken, but soft chatter as Wheeljack approached. At first Prime couldn't really see who he was talking to... Though as the inventor came closer the ebony form, low to the ground that was tagging along behind became visible.

Trailing not all that far behind was a handful of Autobots that where going to be directly part of this... They needed to see the abilities of one another. The theory was that either the Autobots would be able to get a good idea of just what they could possibly be dealing with in the near future... Or the humans would learn not to underestimate Autobots. Whichever came first. Either way Kitt was going to drive into the canyons beyond the mesa. Half a breem later, he was going to be joined by the Autobots present. Jazz, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Smokescreen, and Hound in a few moments where literally going to be hunting for Trans-ams. The rest of them would watch from the comfort in the comm room where Teletram One would be keeping track of the events through the cameras Wheeljack had rigged up in the canyon maze.

Normally used for both security purposes and training purposes... Recording the false missions that Prowl and Ironhide made up so that they could be replayed for the participants later. Something that had originally be suggested by Sparkplug. To show them what they where doing and how they could do it better. Today they would be used for the simple purpose of watching Kitt and his pursuers.

"Are you all aware of what is to be accomplished?" Prime boomed over the chattering group, beckoning silence and those gathered to call to some form of order.

"Take pop shots at a sports car?" Prime leveled a steady glare on Sideswipe who shuffled nervously under the intense gaze.

"Prime their not going to hurt him are they?" Michael questioned, worry clouding his voice as he lay a hand on Kitt's side.

"Absolutely not. The goal is to CAPTURE. Not take pop shots at a sports car as they so eloquently put it." Prime assured them, his gaze once more thrown in the twin's direction.

"What I do?" Sunstreaker demanded to know, under the intense gaze. However, he was saved from any further argument by the revving of Kitt's engine.

"If we can get this show on the road?" Kitt prodded, ebony sports car more than willing to get out there already. Most likely craving the challenge of a new track.

"Alright... Head out to the designated area." Prime instructed. Kitt was off like a shot, taking the small hills as if they where nothing as he sped down into the canyons.

The gathered group silently watched the Trans-am speed across the dessert until he disappeared into the maze and offered shelter of the canyon walls...

Several minutes drug by, as silence once more resettled over the planes. At a silent signal from Prime, Jazz started off, transforming and picking his own way down the mountain side, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe taking up his flanks, Hound and Smokescreen tailing not far behind.

"Let us head back to the Comm room and view this from Teletran One." Prime stated simply, the others still remaining, offering only a nod before following.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shadows spread across the impossibly tall sides of the natural canyons, forming a maze of twists and turns within' the desert floor. The truly amazing part was that it was almost entirely natural... Wheeljack told him that the Autobots had dug out and flattened out the canyon floor so that it could be driven across, but that was it. That little detail was only so that a fast exit could be made in case something went wrong in a training mission... The canyon started in the form of sheer cliffs, climbing up into the sky in form of a wide plateau with a wide path cut through dead center in form of the canyon, then continued on into the mountains a good few miles away from the base. Through the path cut by millions of years of rain fall and the river that filled the canyon an intricate maze had been carved through the limestone walls. Miles, upon miles of paths and dead ends, and unnegotiable trails that now made up the training area for the Autobots...

It was a good idea... It gave them a chance to become familiar with the more extreme of Earthen environment. Unfortunately it was going to make things rather difficult on one very Earthen Trans-am...

The trek to where he was now parked hadn't been easy. It had, however; been worth it. It proved he could do it. That he was capable... Now he had something else to prove...

Kitt's attention trailed upward towards the camera mounted in the walls of the canyon. It followed him like an all seeing eye, watching his every move. It was a little unnerving... And they were everywhere...

Watching him and waiting for him to make a mistake or an error of judgement...

He was dead center in the 'maze'. Within' a few moments he would be given a signal to get moving and get moving fast. His task was simple. Make it out of there. Which should have been simple considering he had gotten in there in the first place. Though on the way out he wouldn't be alone. There where others, looming in the shadows waiting to 'capture' him. If one of the Autobots took him down it was over. It was sort of a game he noted. There was no winner or loser... This was a test of skill...

His tires twitched nervously as he stared up at the camera again. It stared right back... It was times like these he truly wished he had hands... More importantly fingers... Just one... That would at the moment be held up in the rudest gesture he could possibly think of in this situation...

He gave a slight jump, as his internal communications crackled to life with a burst of static. He dearly hoped that jump hadn't been visible. Static crackled and hissed at him, pulling more than a little confusion, though he turned his attention to it. Someone was trying to lock onto his signal and contact him. The least he could do would be to meet them half way. He silently adjusted his own signal, trying to lock on the source of the static.

Within' a moment it cleared and a voice rang out over the lines, light and jovial. "Kitt, this is Jazz ringin' at 'cha. How 'bout it? Ya in position?"

Kitt chuckled softly to himself before voicing his own opinion of the situation out across the waves.

"Yes Jazz, I'm ready and waiting." He responded, silently cranking his engine and letting the turbines turn over with a familiar hum.

"Alright then. Lemme tell ya the low down on how this is gonna go down." Jazz chirped, drawing a round of groans through the channel. Kitt was once more startled. He had thought he and Jazz where the only ones on the line. However, it seemed he had been pulled into a group line. How could he have missed that?

"Yer gonna be up against five Autobots. Me o' course. Hound, Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe. The name of the game is to get out of the training area before we can catch ya. Got it?"

"Yes I do. Anything I should be aware of before we start this?"

"Just the fact that no one's using weapons. So if ya got any, turn um off ya dig?"

"Yes I dig as you so eloquently put it. That will not be a problem. The foundation prefers to keep the older vehicles unarmed." Kitt replied with a soft chuckle of amusement over the waves. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, watch out for the yellow one." A strange voice rang out. It was met with an indignant... Growl...

"Stuff it Smokescreen and lets get this over with."

Kitt was a little put off by the sudden burst from the line... But he took the warning to CPU. If the 'yellow one' was the same one that had been standing on the ridge... He certainly would keep an optical scanner out for that one...

"Alright if that's it..." Jazz paused for a long moment, allowing room for someone to speak up with any more concerns. Though when none came he went on. "Let's get this show on the road. Move out at the flair people."

With that, the signal went deathly quiet. Though Kitt could feel it still there. If he needed to speak out across it someone would pick it up. If there was a problem he could contact them. He silently reformed that link in his CPU, logging it to memory and turned his attention to the sky.

The camera still watched him... That was rather annoying... However, he didn't have time to think on that any further. A bright flash of light streaked across the sky before it looped down back to Earth. The flair...

He was quickly on the move, heading away from the direction he had come. Sensors where on full alert in a moment, reaching out across the maze. From the path he had already taken he could let his sensors 'feel' the rise and fall of the land. He felt he had a fairly good map of the area... A further scan brought up heat signatures. He was gaining more confidence by the moment... His own energy signature wasn't that strong and well shielded... A stealth technique he could use to shroud himself from many an electronic eye... But their signatures where loud and clear. Perhaps he just might get out of this...

The cameras tracked his every move as he wound his way through the maze of passages. On his scanner readout he could clearly see those energy signatures converging through the maze in his direction. Either they had a feeling which way he would head, or they could read him as clearly as he could read them. The thought was unsettling...

Though it did make sense. Though he couldn't have possibly predicted what happened next... The signals disappeared as what seemed like a dark shroud covered the heat signatures... A haze of smoke filtered over the maze, making his scans impossible... He was on his own...

He still remembered the basic layout of the makeshift map he had developed... He knew the land setting... They where trying to prove they where superior. He got that. They wanted Knight Industries to see that it wasn't necessary to get involved. Wasn't happening...

He stopped his mad dash around the maze, screeching to a stop and stood still for a moment. His senses would have to rely on sight and sound... He could see... Nothing that would help him at the moment... He had to get out. There where no rules as to how he had to do that. Another glance around did at least offer him a temporary solution. He pulled forward then backed up, reversing until his form was hidden behind a low rock formation. Then waited... And listened...

It was all he could do to keep absolutely still... Though just as he suspected he was rewarded for his wait. The low crunch of tires on the rocky terrain touched his audio sensors. He waited for a moment before he cautiously ventured a glance out. A flash of bright red met his gaze as Sideswipe slowly trailed up the area, seeming to follow a sensor scan. He paused, the Lamborgini's break lights, flashing to life as he seemed to come to some form of finding and slowly backed up. That was it... Kitt abruptly bolted from his hiding place and hit turbo boost, catapulting himself up and over the vehicle. Satisfaction coursed through Kitt as he landed, the result of the surprised cry let out from the Lamborgini.

The satisfaction was short lived however... The yellow one... It came around the turn in response to his brother's startled cry. Rather than leading one vehicle on a chase through the canyons he was now leading two... He floored the accelerator as he ripped through the canyons. However, it seemed luck was with him this time around. The maps he had where a bit off on this side... Where he had predicted to be a very narrow passage, abruptly opened up into a cavernous space. The walls spread out at ground level where he was, then towards the top narrowed again leaving it a large, cave like space with a narrow opening cutting its way down through the ceiling, letting in a narrow beam of light. Perfect...

He swerved as soon as he entered the space, flinching as his rear fender clipped the wall. Though he noted with some pride the MBS held perfectly... Though that feeling of pride didn't last long. Something else clipped his fender... Hard... It snatched him around in almost a complete 180, a flash of red shooting past his optic range. His fender stung... The pain inched its way up across his side, though only a deep scuff was left behind on his ebony hide. That was something... However, it still hurt...

He didn't pause to consider that. He surged on again, this time finding himself heading towards the yellow one. Sunstreaker... His CPU wrapped around that name. That was Sunstreaker. The one that sideswiped him was... Sideswipe... Ah so apparently someone had a sense of humor...

No time to consider that though. The yellow twin was bearing down on him, surging forward in a deadly game of chicken. With Sideswipe hot on his tail Kitt fully accepted the offered challenge. Mere meters separate them when the yellow one suddenly seemed to contort in on itself, bending and folding, transforming and letting himself slide across the ground as momentum took over. Kitt yelped and swerved. Though after only a moment he spotted his opening.

Kitt surged forward, his aim low and fast. He hit Sunstreaker hard, around shin level. The hit forced the warrior to quickly shift his weight. It was at that point, any other time Kitt knew dang well he would have earned getting himself shot... Though in this little case, they where unarmed. A fact he was using to his full advantage. He could see it in the way they came after him. These two where not warriors use to taking something down without hurting it. Hesitating as if trying to decide just how to go about it without causing the pain they normally did.

Sunstreaker let out an enraged snarl as Kitt made contact. He felt hands close around his back fender. _Ok, maybe not one of my better ideas..._ Kitt thought to himself as he bucked on his shocks and surged forward. Fortunately for him, there was very few places on a Trans-am's sleek body to actually get the grip needed to hold onto him. He flinched as metal, shrieked across metal, but after a moment he was free. Behind him sounded a resounding clang as Sideswipe couldn't stop in time, hitting his brother head on, the two falling into a heap together.

That should buy him at least a few minutes...

He surged out of the clearing, ripping his way around a rock formation and back into the winding paths of the maze. That wasn't going to hold them off for more than a few seconds... Already he could hear the powerful engines behind him. Not really gaining just yet... They needed a flat distance to pick up speed. Agility was about the only think Kitt actually had on them in this case... Which might be enough.

The path looped around. Maybe to go back to that central hub he had just been In. That would certainly throw them off... That is if they had moved, which he felt they had. The sound of engines cut through the air again, causing Kitt to screech to a halt. They where in front of him!

The realization dawned on his CPU as if struck by lightning. This was their training course! He was blind to the layout... For reasons he didn't know... He didn't know the lay of the land. He had no idea where these paths lead but for a rough layout which was proving more and more wrong by the moment... This path wasn't even on his map!

However... They knew their own home turf. They knew it well. They had him running blind. They wanted to see what he would do with that.

Kitt quickly scanned the surrounding walls. A dark haze was hanging over the mesa. It kept him from being able to map out the rest of the plains but it couldn't stop his vision. There was a ledge. About twenty or so feet above him. He could boost that! He backed up for a good running start, then surged forward again. He hit turbo boost and gave it everything he had as he pushed himself up into the air.

It was with a feeling of relief that his tires touched ground again and he surged on, the ledge leading him on a brief second level of paths and trails. A brief twist between a deep groove... One that wasn't peasant he quickly found. Unlike the flat trails down below, this one was rocky and difficult to navigate. Though it wasn't unused... The area was wide and open, littered with metallic shrapnel. What had happened up here. Kitt killed his engine as he waited for the twin exotic vehicles to pass beneath him. For the moment hidden... He set his mind to studying the area. Dug out into the side of the cliffs it was wide, narrow trails that where probably good for walking but not driving cutting through the cliffs to other parts of the maze. It was rocky, the massive boulders providing decent coverage... From what?

Laser fire. It was high ground... Well covered and hidden... He had turbo boosted up into a gunner's fox hole it seemed. That was why the shrapnel was there. Gunners...

The realization wasn't exactly comforting... Either way he had to get out of there. He turned towards one of the narrow paths and let his engine roar to life as he pushed himself onward. It was wide... Wide enough for a transformer to walk through. But it was rocky. Horribly so... Still he could navigate. This wouldn't be to difficult.

He turned another corner, feeling a bit more light hearted as the sounds of engines faded to silence but for his own. He could do this...

It was after turning another corner that the sound of an engine roaring to life caused him to reverse in surprise. He had just come prow to grill with Hound...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Trans-am had an interesting fighting style... Prowl noted that in an instant as they watched the scene play out on Teletran one's main screen. He went from skittering and ducking around the edges of the fray... To charging grill first into it.

It made him unpredictable. Prowl thought he had the Trans-am figured out when he had hidden from Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. He didn't mistake the act for cowardice in the least. However, he had mistaken it for caution. For the type to remain hidden and slip past when least expected...

The car's choice to suddenly charge the more dangerous of the twins had caught him so off guard, his logic circuits where still reeling from the blow. However, it had worked... Now Teletran was having a difficult time of finding him again. However, the twins had been located. They where irritably searching the many winding passages from the central hub. There where dozens and most of them lead right back to the hub. They had figured the Trans-am would be lost for hours in those loops... Smokescreen had taken care of the possibility of scanning for openings and tracing the way out. The thick haze that hung over the maze, would keep those scans at bay...

He had been in a blank area of the maze when he seemed to have just... Disappeared... They couldn't even detect him on the scanner... For all intent and purposes he was just... Gone...

Prowl even considered sending Powerglide in as an overhead eye. However, that would be entirely out of bounds he felt. After all they already had a powerful advantage on the car. If Kitt had managed to loose them... Then the power to him... That didn't satisfy the want to know how he had done it though...

_I found him!_ Hound's voice suddenly cut through on the radio. _Foxhole 5!_

A foxhole? Michael cast them a questioning glance but Prowl ignored it as Teletran used the information to zero in on the area. No wonder they hadn't been able to find him... He was practically in the haze Smokescreen had clouded the area with if he was up that high... Doubtful even Powerglide would have been able to spot him in that area as a matter of fact.

Sure enough... There he was. The car quickly hit reverse as Hound surged forward. The more agile Trans-am quickly sped out of the way, clipping the jeep's back bumper. Though rather than spin as the car probably would have liked, Hound only fishtailed for a moment from the impact before he had traction again. He would have to do better than that.

Michael let out a groan at the building situation. Hound had caught Kitt by chance in a very narrow passage way. By way of using a shortcut to get to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe and help them search the passage ways off the hub he might have accidently put an end to this.

It certainly looked that way... Hound had him cornered. There wasn't anywhere for Kitt to go... Though after a moment Hound jumped on his shocks, setting back in what looked like startled surprise, allowing Kitt to surge past. Kitt surged a few feet away, then seemed to stall, jumping forward a few inches as if something had surprised him... He then took off again, surging out of the area. This time the camera's followed him. Though at least one stayed on Hound, the jeep's image moving to one of the secondary screens. They all expected him to give chase. After a full minute of Hound not moving his voice came over the radio waves.

_I can't move..._

"What do you mean you can't move?" Prime questioned slowly.

_Just that... I can't move..._

All optics turned to Michael who couldn't help but grin. Now Kitt's surprised jump made sense. He had been surprised it worked. "Micro Jam. Sort of a last ditch get away... Don't worry Hound. I'm sure it feels odd but it'll wear off in about five minutes."

"Michael the agreement not to harm works both ways." Prime scolded, gaining an amused look from Michael.

"What's the matter Prime? Afraid an Earth car will hurt your troops?" He questioned, unable to help the smug look that crossed his features. "Though don't worry. Micro Jam is perfectly safe. It's only designed to scramble electronics for a few minutes so he can get away.

As if illustrating the fact Hound lurched forward sluggishly. He almost seemed drunk as he slowly regained the use of the relays needed to drive. Sluggishly he transformed, dropping to his knees for a moment and shook his head as if trying to clear it. If Michael didn't know any better he would almost think the Jeep looked as if he was going to be sick.

"You have no idea what that could have done to him." Came a voice from behind. Sounded like Ratchet, though Michael didn't glance back.

"Just like you had no idea what that smoke that's been in the air could have done to Kitt?" Michael pointed out. That brought silence. "Thought so."

The point wasn't pushed any further. Hound was already on his feet, no worse for the wear.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Los Angelus

"I don't like this..."

"So you've said. We have little choice in the matter."

Eli swallowed hard as she stared out at the world through Karr's windshield. The ground was wet. A result of the previous night's rain and an early morning dew... Possibly sprinklers as well... The grass was impossibly green in this area...

"No I really don't like this... This isn't shop lifting it's a felony!"

"You need decent food and I need fuel. It is survival. This is not 'the highlight of my day' as I believe you humans say... However, we must do, what we must do."

Ahead of them a vast parking lot spread out, devoid of life... In the center sat a regal looking building that presented itself as a bank... This time of day everyone was at work... It was that time of day after lunch time that no one had time to do their banking, leaving the bank employees to work in peace, tallying up the numbers before the evening rush when everyone ran for the bank after they where free from work, and before the bank locked it's doors for the night.

"Karr they send people to prison for this... Not just an over night stay at jail, people spend years in prison for this kinda thing!"

"They will not catch us. Besides... The money will come from a closed account I have access to. No one will be the wiser."

Bank employee's parked in the back... Not even their vehicles where in the parking lot... It made Eli feel that much more exposed. Ahead of them... A lone ATM sat on the corner. The source of their argument...

"Elizabeth we have little other options. This is the safest one. Now go up to the ATM. I'll do the rest."

"But Karr..."

"Do not argue with me Elizabeth. I promised I would take care of you. I meant it. Now go."

Eli swallowed hard and nodded slowly, her had reaching out to rest on the door. It clicked open without her having to go for the handle. She hesitated again, though this time forced herself to step out of the car. She gave a good stretch to work the kinks out of her back. Act natural as Karr had told her... Yeah right...

She slowly made her way across the fifteen feet that separated her from the ATM, head kept down as she listened for any direction from Karr. As she knew it would, none came... It only took a moment as she stood and stared at the screen of the ATM, quietly wondering what to do now. The screen remained at the bank's opening screen for a few moments... The logo of the bank was shown in a digital display on the glass.

Abruptly it changed, seeming to go through the channels so quickly the lights blurred together and forced Eli to look away from it. There was a beep followed by text flowing across the screen. A chipper have a nice day displayed as five twenties where flipped from the machine into the available tray.

She swallowed hard and silently picked up the bills, folding them carefully and putting them in her pocket before turning and heading back to Karr. His driver's side door popped open, letting Eli sink into the soft leather of the car seat.

"Wow... Thrilling..." She commented flatly.

"I doubt I will be able to do that again..." Karr muttered softly. To Eli's ears he almost sounded a little... Distressed? Awed? A little of both?

"These machines have become much more advanced since I was last activated. That was... Difficult... If an ATM machine is difficult then I would imagine I will not be able to trick Knight Industries' computers as easily as I did this time. I also suggest we quickly leave the area." Karr explained further, his voice almost sounding a little strained.

"Advise heard and accepted." Eli said flatly. "Let's hit the bricks."

Karr didn't have to be told twice. He calmly pulled out of the parking lot. However, by the time he hit the interstate he was pulling ninety.

_Decepticon HQ Pacific Ocean_

Martin was dead...

His mind wrapped around that single detail and held onto it like a swimmer clinging to a life raft in shark infested waters...

Martin was dead...

His existence was moot without Martin. Without Martin he was not entirely sure he could exist. Through Martin he had gained his personality. Through a link he had gained thoughts and emotions... Human emotions.

Martin was dead...

After the transfer had been made he had suddenly felt emotions he had never been exposed to before... Could still feel emotions... Love for his partner... Hate for those who had killed him... The want for revenge... Fear of what was going to happen to him...

Martin was dead...

The memories would not fade. It had been a trick that had slipped him up. They had shown him Marland... He wanted that man dead... For what he did to his partner. Hadn't killed him... No. However, did make him suffer. For that he must die. He had focused on that man with Martin at the wheel... For making Martin suffer, he had to die... After all he belonged to Martin. He was Martin's car. His vehicle and friend. He was Martin's partner...

Martin was dead...

He had driven forward... He had a lock on Marland... He still wasn't entirely sure how the shots had not hit... He remembered the use of a hologram. Something the smart one he had briefly taken hostage had come up with. He knew he should have killed that one...

Martin was dead...

Dante... The SUV... The SUV had driven up behind him. He had thought nothing of it, until he started pushing... Pushed him into the slag pit... He hadn't been able to get out. The walls where well above his roof and it was just the size that he was inches from touching the walls at all sides. Team Knight Rider stood up there... Looking down at him... Probably wondering what to do with him now...

Martin was dead...

Marland had taken it upon himself to finish the job. A button pushed... He couldn't even comprehend the pain as it happened. Steel so hot it was in liquid form poured down on him... The burn... It had been all he could think about as it covered his hood. Kyle Stewart... Leader of TKR... He had taken a hold of the chain. Yelled at Martin to give him his hand... Pleaded with him to get out of the vehicle...

Martin was dead...

Martin for a moment had... Under the pleas of his vehicle... He had taken Kyle's hand... Then something changed. He still wasn't sure what. Martin had looked at his partner for a long moment... Then let go of Kyle's hand and pulled back inside. He had chosen to die with his vehicle. He could still hear the screams of his partner as the intense heat ate at him...

Martin was dead...

Now he was alone. There was no light. No sound. He was a prisoner in a block of steel... Martin still sat behind the wheel. His flesh burned away, leaving the ghastly grin of charred skeletal remains, boney hands still clutching the steering wheel. For months he had attempted to make the charred bones move. Talked to Martin as if he was still alive. Scanned him for vital signs. Begged him to wake up...

Now he understood... Martin was dead...

He felt the block being moved every now and again. He felt people working to get to him. To kill him probably. He didn't care. Not without Martin.

He had no idea what was going on out there and he flat out didn't care... Though it still came as surprise to suddenly see light again. Bright light. Light so bright it blinded out his visual as someone broke through the steel, cutting it away with welding equipment. Not human...

Something else. Something impossibly large and metallic. For the first time in months Martin's body was exposed to the light. The one who had cut away the steel made a disgusted sound...

A metallic hand pulled another chunk of steel away. The movement shifted them... No longer sealed in the steel prison... Martin's bones could take no more... At a touch from the metallic hand they crumbled away like a sand castle in the surf...

An anguished cry echoed through the vehicle but it only passed vocals as a burst of static. Martin! They had killed Martin! No... Briefest creep of logic. They disturbed and destroyed his body... However, Martin was already dead. They did not kill Martin. James Marland killed Martin. Kyle had tried to save Martin. James Marland killed Martin.

He slowly became aware of others in the room as he was slowly freed from his prison. He was in a lab... Colossal metallic creatures surrounded him... This was like some horrible nightmare...

More light... Then nothing... Absolute nothing... His CPU had been wrenched free of his body...

Time drug on... Hours or seconds he couldn't know. It was an eternity and yet it was the blink of an eye. There was no up... No down... He could see but there was only darkness to see. He could feel but he felt nothing... Just the chill of loneliness. He could hear but all he was met with was silence. No memories. For a moment the pain was gone. The horrible agony of losing Martin was gone because for a few moments... There was no Martin.

Just like that... There was light again. Light and voices. Talking quickly. Excited voices. Happy that they had succeeded. Happy that they had accomplished something.

Another deep voice... That one was to be listened to. Something already told him, that was the leader.

"Can you hear me?"

Someone talking to him...

"What is your name?"

He was expected to answer. What was his name?

"I am the Knight Reformulation One. K.R.O. for easier reference. Kro if you prefer..." He rattled off slowly.

"Kro... I am Megatron. You now serve the Decepticons."

"I serve Martin." Kro corrected slowly. That was what he had been built for. Serve and protect Martin.

"You serve me!" The voice was loud. Angry. Why angry? His processors couldn't wrap around it. The voice had been incorrect in the statement. Kro had corrected it. Why angry?

A long, silent pause... Then...

"The Decepticons rescued you." The voice stated. Now much calmer. Smoother... Smooth as honey as the humans sometimes said. "We saved you from a fate worse than death. You were still alive in there. You would have been in there much longer if we had not rescued you. You owe us your loyalty."

"Loyal to Martin..." He tried slowly, confusion buzzing his CPU. As if his CPU was trying to wrap around something. Connect to something.

"Were the charred remains in your driver's seat Martin?" The voice questioned.

His CPU suddenly grasped onto what it had lost. Martin was dead. A cry of anguish was pulled from Kro's vocals.

"The Decepticons can help you seek revenge." Revenge... Yes... That was what he wanted. His CPU was decisive. He needed to serve someone... The one who could offer revenge maybe?

He no longer had Martin. Martin was gone leaving only a memory. Revenge could be his... His mind leapt at the thought... He could not survive without Martin... Then how would he seek revenge if he could not survive? He would find Martin? Martin was dead... Not possible...

The paradox caused his mind to twist and warp as if in pain... Like a fragile mirror when a stone is cast... What little was left of his sanity shattered, the shards falling and cutting through his mind and thoughts, warping him to its will.

"Revenge... Kill James Marland?"

"If that is what you wish." The voice promised him.

"I serve the Decepticons." Kro stated flatly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Autobot HQ Oregon_

This time... Kitt had the advantage. He was still on the upper level of the maze. In yet another foxhole as he was starting to call it. Both from the reasoning it was a good place to hide and the fact that he had yet to find a way down... The thin paths between foxholes where difficult to navigate. Though still... The Jeep wouldn't be following him any time soon. He wasn't entirely worried. The use of microjam and a few rock slides and falsely placed tracks and he felt he had the tracker rather well confused.

That wasn't the target he was worried about... Just below him was another Autobot. This one was in robot form... He also found it was the source of the haze. Smokescreen.

The Autobot hadn't seen him yet... That was in his advantage. For the moment he also didn't seem to be actively looking for him. There was one thing Kitt was beginning to realize though. The passage that he was currently over... Was familiar. Vaguely so but he could spot his own tire tracks in the soft sand. Run over several times by the others but they where there. This Autobot was standing between him and freedom. Between him and victory. He stood between Kitt and proving that yes he did in fact have what it took. Kitt hadn't decided just what he wanted to do about that yet...

He didn't have much time. He had to get out before the others gathered their wits again. Above him the low hum of the camera changing angles caught his attention. Those dang things where unnerving... At times he was almost sure they where using them to help the others along. However, if that was true... Smokescreen would have looked up by now. He was after all just above him...

If he waited... Long enough the Autobot couldn't possibly remain that still for that long could he? As it was he could. He was still and silent. A guard? Must be close to the exit... He had to do something. Shifting into gear he crept back as silently as he could. In stealth his engine made as little noise as the wind... However, it was draining. He couldn't do this long. He struggled his way back up the path he had come, taking a right rather than the left he had. If his calculations where correct... Perfect... He was just around the corner from the Autobot. Though still not where he needed to be. Tires briefly spun, flinging rocks across the path below him, a clatter of noise in form of a brief rock slide sounding out. Kitt quickly reversed and struggled back down to where he had been a moment ago... In time to see Smokescreen disappear around the corner.

"Who said there was intelligent species on other planets?" Kitt muttered to himself as he backed up a little. He surged forward and hit turbo boost, hitting the ground with a light thump as he surged off again. Weather or not Smokescreen figured out what he had done he didn't know. He was getting out of here... Now...

It was only a few more twists before the one thing he wanted most to see came into view. Daylight between the walls... An open mesa...

He surged forward. A way out and not an Autobot in... Sight! He yelped and swerved as Jazz suddenly dropped down infront of him and pounced. Hell the Autobot was going to tackle him!

Wasn't happening. He hit turbo boost, a flinch shooting through him as his prow connected with Jazz's mid section. Pain shot up his hood but he ignored it. Jazz let out a grunt as they both hit the ground, Kitt surging forward again towards freedom. This time he was getting out damn it...

A chanced glanced behind him changed that. Kitt slowed down as he watched the Autobot. He hadn't moved. Hadn't attempted to get up. Worry sprang to his CPU. Had he hit him just the right way that it actually hurt him? It seemed impossible... Still though he slowed his wild exit before finely stopping. He backed up enough to turn around, a slow approach made to the fallen 'bot.

Jazz hadn't moved... Not an inch... His bright blue optics had shut off, and where now a dark and deathly gray. Kitt slowly approached, a gentle nudge given with his prow. Nothing... Now truly worried he beeped his horn a few times, attempting to rouse the fallen 'bot. Nothing. He needed help... The car pulled close, silently reaching out a connection to Teletran. However, before he could get out a distress signal hands shot up and under him, a firm grip taken to his fender.

Engine roared with indignant rage as Kitt set back. Jazz's optics flared to life as a grin crossed his face plate. "Gotcha" He announced, though Kitt was having none of it.

"Want to bet on that?" Came the almost snarled reply as Kitt put a whole new level of fight into his wild attempt of escape. Jazz was forced to quickly change position, setting back against the wildly struggling Trans-am and flinch against the dirt and rocks pelting his side slung up from the car's tires.

It was a good ten minutes before the car calmed. Jazz calmly held onto the vehicle until his struggling stopped. Even then he kept a firm grasp on him. Only a few minutes more to beat in the point that he was effectively caught. Then hands slid free, allowing the car to back off.

"I'm sorry man." Jazz offered, that smile crossing face plates again.

"That was entirely underhanded. I thought you where hurt." Kitt snipped, his scanner slowing dangerously as he glared at the Saboteur.

"It's my job man. A Decepticon would'a done ya worse."

"I wouldn't have come back for a Decepticon." Kitt pointed out flatly.

"Would you of? Not even for one of them Knight vehicles they took?" Jazz questioned slowly.

The silence was thick enough to be cut with a knife. Without a word Kitt fired his engine to life and surged forward, leaving through the exit he had been attempting to leave through before he had been stupid enough to fall for something like a false injury.

Jazz only smiled in sympathy and radioed the others back. This little exercise was finished.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What the hell was that?" If Kitt was somewhat irritated... Michael was absolutely irate. The thought that they had tricked his partner and taken advantage of his gentler side was the last straw... Absolutely...

"Michael this exercise was put together to show us your partner's capabilities and weaknesses. We now have the information we set out to acquire. The end result is of no concern." Prime reasoned simply as they watched the screen. Kitt was coming back to HQ. Alone... He didn't exactly seem pleased with the outcome. "This exercise was not a matter of winning or losing."

"Winning or losing was not the point. That was absolutely cruel." Michael stated flatly. On the screen Kitt abruptly stopped and pulled up to the side of the Ark. The Trans-am backed up and settled in to park beside Sparkplug's rattle trap of a truck and wait.

"What's he doin'?" Ironhide questioned from behind them.

"What's it look like he's doing. He just parked himself." Michael stated flatly. "Frankly I wouldn't want to talk to you at the moment either if I was him. You had best hope Bonnie never gets wind of this." Michael stated flatly. "As it is, as irritating as this is, it's entirely beside the point. Two vehicles. Remember them? A Trans-am and a Ferrari?"

On the screen Jazz was approaching the Ark. He paused and transformed at the doorway, silently pulling in to park beside Kitt and was silent. That at least quelled off Michael's temper just a bit... At least one of them had the decency to feel just a bit guilty over what they had just pulled.

"Yes Michael I remember them well." Prime stated simply. "I believe they are the reason you are currently here."

"What vehicles?" Their attention snapped up Sideswipe came to stop nearby, his attention going from Prime to the human and back again.

"The two vehicles from the lab attack." Prime answered simply, then turned attention back to Michael about to speak again. Though Sunstreaker cut in before a sound could be uttered.

"I didn't see any vehicles."

"Neither did I." Smokescreen agreed, a frown crossing his faceplate.

Prime paused and silently stared at the trio for a long moment. Behind them Hound could only shrug. He hadn't been there. He didn't know.

"You mean the Decepticons didn't take anything with them?"

"Oh no they did... A big metal block."

"That was Kro." Michael put in helpfully. They where cutting him out of the block so they could shut down his CPU properly. "They've been at it for months. Hard stuff to get through. There's also a Trans-am missing. The more dangerous of the two. He would have been the only visible vehicle."

"I didn't see a Trans-am." Smokescreen mused slowly.

"I did." Sideswipe supplied, a light nod given. "Slagger nearly ran right into me."

"What do you mean he nearly ran into you?" Prime questioned, the room's full attention suddenly directed at Sideswipe. Sideswipe for his credit looked unconcerned under the intense attention. "Hey just what I said. A Trans-am came out of the building and nearly ran me off the road. Probably one of the employees."

"Did you catch a licence plate number?" Attention once more whipped around. Kitt was parked in the doorway, Jazz not all that far behind him. All business now even though he was pointedly ignoring the car behind him.

"Noooo..." Sideswipe drew out slowly, suddenly not so keen on being the center of attention at the moment.

"Where did it come out of?" Kitt pressed, scanner skipping a few tracks, voice just a bit to quick.

"I don't know... The basement I think. I was more focused on the fact that a Jet was shooting at me to be honest." Sideswipe shot back.

"Still... What part of the building? Do you at least remember that?"

"I don't know! Basement I think. It came up from somewhere." Sideswipe snapped, backing up a bit at the sudden third degree.

"Kitt you know something?" Michael questioned slowly.

"Maybe... If the Decepticons did not take Karr and he's missing... My logical guess would be that he is somewhere else. The lab they found after the attack was in the basement. Therefore it would lead me to believe the Trans-am that nearly ran into Sideswipe is our missing Karr." Kitt reasoned, scanner slowing down for a moment.

"Michael I don't like this. If Karr is loose we could have a serious problem."

"Serious problem doesn't even cut it Kitt. Contact Devon and tell him to get the Semi on the road. We might need it. Might want to tell him to call the team off of the case they where sent after. It looks like we're going to have to split up in two different directions." Michael instructed, silently turning to face Prime again.

"Looks like we'll for the most part be out of your hair pretty soon. If Karr's on the street we need to make him our priority. Though with Kro still AWOL we'd like to keep at least one operative here if you don't mind."

Prime smiled behind his battle mask though he was careful to keep it out of any gaze the human might notice. How ironic... "Michael I would prefer that we remain involved in this. Karr may be mostly a Knight Industries problem now... However, it was the Decepticons that set him free in the first place. That makes him our problem as well... As for Kro... He is truly our problem. Feel free to invite your team mates here to regroup."

The surprised silence came from both sides of this little... Arrangement. Surprise from the Autobots of course... Their leader had only a day ago protested against Knight Industries involvement and now he was inviting more?

As for Michael and Kitt, they had the distinct impression that their welcome had worn out the moment they crossed the gate.

"You do realize the team consists of five vehicles very much like Kitt right?" Michael questioned slowly.

"We are all aware of that. I believe there is much we simply do not understand of each other."

"You can say that again." Kitt muttered, though his comment went for the most part ignored.

Michael was silent for a long moment... He was like his partner. Ready to leave this place. Though they still needed to stick close to the Autobots. The plane would be coming in... It would be nothing for them to alter their flight from California to Oregon. The Semi might take a bit longer to travel. Still... It would make Bonnie and Devon happy... Who knew why but they where the ones who had pushed this little meeting. Devon's instructions where still standing. Try to humor them...

"Very well... Kitt let the team and Devon know to alter their courses here... Prime you do realize TKR will be bringing a jet in to land right?"

A startled choke from the security center brought a soft ring of laughter from the gathered group. Red Alert looked positively miffed at the thought of an unknown air craft landing there...

"Very well. Once we know more of-"

"I found Karr."

All attention snatched towards Kitt as he made his announcement.

"Already?" Michael questioned, honestly a bit impressed.

"He did not waist time it seems. Not a confirmed sighting but I would be willing to gamble on it." Kitt stated simply. Within' a moment Teletran's screens sprang to life, the Knight logo slowly circling for a moment before information began scrolling past at a blinding pace as Kitt searched.

"Hey!" The yelled complaint came from Red Alert... Huge surprise there.

"Teletran let me in. I would not hack a fellow AI." Kitt responded flatly, silently continuing with what he was doing until an image popped up on the screen. What looked like the file of a police officer in L.A.

"Officer Tony Bennet. Age twenty five. Graduated from the police academy last September. With honors. Rather impressive. Officer Bennet claims he was attacked by a 'demon car' last night while giving chase to a suspected shop lifter. The vehicle is described as a black over white Trans-am, a custom light on the front prow, shaded yellow. I believe the exact color is amber... However, it is close enough." Kitt commented.

"Sounds like Karr alright..."

"Oh it gets worse Michael. The shop lifter has to this point not been found. Officer Bennet claims that the 'demon car' turned on her once it had effectively chased him off. She is described as a teenager about five foot six, black hair, dressed in black around the age of fifteen. There is no sign of her but there is evidence that she was chased by someone in a vehicle. Her identity if yet unknown and despite the sketchy information and story of a 'demon car' an amber alert was placed this morning. The police department is offering a reward for any information on the vehicle or the young lady."

"Ok that's not exactly the highlight of my news for today..." Michael let out a heavy sigh and silently leaned back against the computer council that seemed to tower above his head.

"Mr. Knight how severe is this new situation?" Prime asked drawing another sigh from Michael.

"Don't call me Mr. Knight and it's pretty bad. He's not usually one to leave evidence laying around. I'm actually surprised he let the officer live... As for the girl... Normally he picks up a partner fairly quickly. In the previous two times he's been set loose... He always picked up a partner. His programing demands it. All Knight vehicles are programmed to fully believe they need a human partner to survive. Even the older ones..."

"Well we do. You try pumping your own fuel when you do not have hands. We will not even go into the prospect of a vehicle changing it's own oil." Kitt replied with a soft chuckle. "Knight vehicles are not designed to be without a human partner. It would be illogical."

"To true... Anyway he'll know he needs a human to do whatever it is he's trying to accomplish. Unfortunately if he's threatened he won't hesitate to terminate the partnership... Permanently..."

"Optimus Prime are you familiar with Asimov?"

Kitt's sudden address towards the Autobot leader pulled the attention of the entire group onto the Trans-am.

"Isac Asimov the Science Fiction writer?"

"The very same... Are you familiar with the three laws?"

Prime scanned his mind for that information. He knew the name but not the work...

"The three laws of robots..." Prowl supplied after a moment, his mind at least seeming to latch onto the information. Of course Prowl would be the one to have the information available. As much as he read it wasn't a surprise.

"Yes. That's it. Law one... A robot can not harm a human being. Law two... A robot must obey a human being unless it conflicts with the first law. Law three... A robot must protect itself unless this conflicts with the first and second laws. All Knight industries vehicles are programmed with those laws. Some of us have managed to alter paths around them when the need arises. Of course the second law is edited to only include our driver... As well as the team members in the case of TKR... However, that is not the point. Karr's programming is missing the first law... And the second and third laws are reversed."

"Yep, that's our Karr." Michael commented, a nod given in reference to Kitt's explanation. "Devon described him once as a loaded gun in the hands of a child. Only a matter of time before he goes off. He's a bit like an animal in nature. We may need to redirect at least one of the team to keep an eye on him."

"He's not that bad." Kitt commented, earning a somewhat startled gaze from Michael.

"Alright exactly what mission where you on when we where pitted against Karr?"

"He may have grown up a bit."

To that Michael only rolled his eyes with an exasperated snort. "We've been over this Kitt. Drop it."

"What do you mean some of the vehicles have altered the programming?" It was Prime that spoke, his attention still on Kitt, seeming to have ignored the brewing argument between driver and vehicle. That was the million dollar question... It seemed to stem off the fuse rather quickly.

"Attack Beast." Kitt stated quietly. "Last year he killed a human being to protect his driver. The team vehicles have been used to kill at times of course... It comes with law enforcement. However, always under direct control of their human drivers. Beast acted on his own accord. He spotted the problem, could not warn his driver in time and took the shot. It... Frightened the board of directors a bit..."

"Scared the bajeebus out of them." Michael stated flatly. "They put the poor truck in the vault for nearly a month."

"The vault?" That somehow didn't sit well with Prime. Though Kitt only settled down on his shocks in a vehicular form of a shrug.

"A testing area underneath Knight Industries. Indestructible and impossible to get out of. Irritating place... They placed Attack Beast in there until they where certain the incident would go no further than that..."

It still didn't sit well... Despite Kitt's light attitude of the event he certainly did not sound happy about it. Either way he let the subject drop.

"Michael feel free to roam the base until you can regroup with the rest of your team. I'm afraid I have a few other matters to attend to." Prime offered with an apologetic nod, gaining a wry smile from Michael.

"Things that don't involve weird talking cars?"

Prime chuckled and nodded his agreement. "To say the least."

With that the group slowly scattered as they returned to their own tasks, Michael returning to Kitt to discuss the growing issue involving Karr.

"What happened to not wanting them around?"

Prime turned around to face Ironhide, the older 'bot giving him a somewhat puzzled look.

"I don't know Ironhide... However, a non sentient machine I do not believe would have returned for Jazz..." Prime mused, gaining an even more puzzled look from Ironhide. This very well may be something they should look into...

To Be Continued...


	3. Far From Welcome

_Notes: I feel at this point I should explain what's going on in my little brain... You see before watching this I paid very close attention to the episode Enter the Nightbird... Particularly the reactions of the Autobots towards Nightbird. Note the snarky little comments at the beginning of the show in reguards to an Earthen built robot. Wheeljack called her a glorified wind-up toy for God's sake... Therefore in reguards to looking at a computer in a car that seems to be alive... I feel the Autobots might be somewhat hostile towards the idea. Also note that the Decepticons on the other hand look at the possibility and decide "I don't care if it's alive or not, it might take some talking but we can make it work for us." Therefore... Here we have it. Hostile Autobots and welcomeing Decepticons. There's a mix up for ya in it? Rock On!_

_XXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_Autobot HQ Oregon_

"So Skyone is gonna land in L.A. and let Kyle and Duke off with their vehicles... Then their gonna pick up Devon, Bonnie and the Semi... Then their gonna come here along with who's left on Skyone which team wise will be Jenny, Erica, and Trek along with their vehicles." Michael explained for what seemed like the hundredth time. Kitt for whatever reasons either wasn't comprehending what he was telling him or choosing to be difficult.

"I got that Michael." Ah the second... Peachy...

"What I don't get is why can't the Semi just hit the road as it always does. Skyone is in Washington D.C. which means for every hour of the five hour flight it will take for them to get to California... Is an hour the Semi will just be sitting around waiting. I think Devon and Bonnie would be much more comfortable driving here."

Michael was starting to think Kitt was making a game of this. See how long it would take before he ran from the room screaming. It wouldn't be long now...

"But it's a longer drive than it is a flight. It's well over a twelve hour drive. So if Skyone is going to be in the area anyway it would be nothing for the Semi to go there instead of coming here and it would be much faster for them to travel. That way everyone would get here at the same time and we could get to work rather than having half the team milling around doing nothing. Besides you know how hard traveling is on Devon these days."

"But Michael! The idea of them flying here... Bonnie hates flying! Plus you know what happened last time!"

Ah so that was it...

"Kitt... That was a once in a life time fluke and it's not happening again. There's no way anyone is going to hijack Skyone-"

"They did it before..."

"That security problem has been fixed. There's nothing to worry about. Besides that flying is perfectly safe."

"He's right Kitt." Michael smiled as Wheeljack abruptly cut in. It was a little unreal when one stopped to think about it. After an hour of them wandering aimlessly around the communication center and random Autobots nearly running into Kitt who had parked himself near the door, someone had suggested they make themselves more comfortable in the rec room. Michael had to agree with that... Wheeljack had volunteered to take them down there, claiming he needed energon anyway. A substance that had absolutely fascinated Kitt... It also frankly frightened Michael... Hell the stuff glowed... The container Wheeljack held it in was transparent... Though it looked solid. Almost like glass though Kitt told him it wasn't. From there he didn't want to know. Michael had perched himself on Kitt's hood from where he sat parked on the floor at Wheeljack's feet. Wheeljack had turned in his seat, halfway leaning on the table, staring down at the human and his vehicle.

"Air travel is statistically the safest way of travel. You have more chance of being killed by a donkey than you do of dying while in flight. So says American Statistics." Wheeljack informed, the vocal indicators on the sides of his head lighting up in a cheerful blue.

"I know the statistics Wheeljack... But do you have any idea how many individual processes have to occur just to make an aircraft remain in flight? And if just one of those processes fails... The outcome is disastrous... Unlike being in an auto accident, a plane accident is almost always one hundred percent fatal!"

"But you have to look at the other odds. What is the odds of a plan actually crashing?"

Kitt... Really didn't have a comeback for that. He couldn't argue with statistics. Well he could... But logically he couldn't...

"They'll be fine Kitt. In just a few hours Bonnie will be here and you can listen to her go on about every single horrible detail of the flight as I'm sure she will."

"Does she not like flying either?" Wheeljack questioned, curiously turning his attention to the human lounging across Kitt's hood.

"She hates it. That's why Kitt hates it. She programmed him. So a lot of her personality went into him. Including her fear of flying."

"Oh I think I see. Like a type of personality scan?" Wheeljack questioned slowly.

"Well no. Though Bonnie did develop that after a while." Michael explained, then silently twisted around to glance through Kitt's windshield. He took the hint and picked up the technical part.

"Bonnie did all the programming by hand because the technology was not available for that type of thing when I was created. She developed that later though. It was first used on Kro to better his partnership with his new driver."

"Fascinating... Did it work?"

"Unfortunately yes..." Kitt responded with a visible shudder.

"Unfortunately?"

"James Marland... The man left in charge when Devon attempted to go into semi retirement... He felt he had something to prove. He wanted to make the next successful team. He found Martin Jantzen... The man was found to be unstable. Though only after they had started training. Rather than admit he had made an error and set the project back a few months while they found a new driver for the developing AI he proceeded on. He allowed a the science team to do a full scan and copy parts of his personality onto the AI to better the partnership."

"But... That's insane!" Wheeljack suddenly declared, his optics widening at the thought. "To knowingly scan the mental process of a man that is known to be unstable..."

"Yes... We know... We also found out about it the hard way. Martin's insanity came out in the AI very clearly. It corrupted an otherwise innocent system. However, before anything could be done about it they managed to escape the lab. We caught them in a parking lot. Poor planning had them run out of gas. Unfortunately it was after they had already killed five people along the way. One tech and four civilians."

"Primus..."

"Wheeljack may I ask you something?" Kitt suddenly questioned, breaking Wheeljack from his thoughts.

"Of course..."

"I have heard many of your kind use the word Primus... What does it mean?"

For a moment Wheeljack blinked as if startled. After a moment he let out what sounded like a chuckle. "Primus is the basic part of our history. He created our home world Cybertron... There are some data files in the library if you would like to look up on it. I'm sure you would find the subject interesting. Though on Earth... I think the equivalent would be that Primus is our God."

"Oh..." Kitt muttered, almost meekly as he processed that information.

Michael smiled and gave Kitt's hood an affectionate pat. The car seemed to almost be contemplating weather or not he wanted to continue with that line of questioning when his scanner suddenly skipped, someone on the other side of the rec room catching his attention. Jazz stood at the energon dispenser, quietly humming to himself as he took a portion of it. "I might do just that... Excuse me." Kitt muttered, quickly backing up. Michael took the hint and slid off his hood as the car pulled out, and performed a 180 before moving out the door.

"Dang he still not speakin' to me?" Jazz questioned as he pulled out a seat and flopped down beside Wheeljack.

"Doesn't seem that way. Not that I can blame him, that was harsh out there." Michael commented, silently accepting the offered hand as Wheeljack reached down to help the human up. He was gently placed on the table top, where he sat down, folding his long legs underneath him.

"Man I said I was sorry..." Jazz groused, though Michael could only smile.

"Kitt can hold one hell of a grudge. A tech back home once accidently dropped a wrench into his engine compartment... That was four years ago... Yes I know it was painful but it was an accident... Kitt still won't speak to him."

Jazz groaned, though Wheeljack chuckled softly, his attention turning back to Michael. "Kitt seemed uncomfortable with the information concerning Primus. Is he alright?"

"Yeah he's fine." Michael responded with a wave of one hand. "He's going through this 'who am I and what purpose do I serve' kinda phase."

"Oh..." Wheeljack muttered thoughtfully, silently leaning back in his seat.

"How do ya mean?" Jazz questioned, suddenly lifting his head again to level his gaze on Michael.

"Well a few months ago he had a bit of a close call. I mean he's had close calls before... I don't think he's ever really thought about it when he has a close call. Or rather maybe he has but doesn't really think on it when it's his own... About a year ago we had to bring Beast back to the foundation for a complete overhaul... That was Kro's second little outing... We came very close to losing him. Kitt was there for every one of the team's activation. He's very protective over them all... Beast was the youngest. He definitely doesn't need protecting anymore... He was very shy when he was first activated but now he's the first line defense... He's the first one driving into a fray... He's actually boarder line destructive. But when they brought him in... I think it frightened Kitt. He wouldn't leave him. I don't even think Beast remembers it... They didn't activate him until they had him back on Skyone. They didn't want to frighten him."

"Wow... I assume this put him in touch with his own mortality?" Wheeljack questioned, gaining a nod from Michael.

"Sort of... I think when it was himself... He didn't much care. It was life he was worried about. But when he thought of the others it concerned him... After Beast was back on Skyone again he approached Bonnie and asked her what happened to AI's when they died. She didn't know how to answer him..."

"Ouch... What did she tell him?" Jazz questioned, gaining a flinch from Michael.

"Only thing she could. She told him about human religions... Her own religion... Told him that he should look into all that and decide what he believed not what the human population believed. I still don't think it sat well with him. Since then he's avoided the topic entirely."

"You know he may take comfort in some Cybertronian beliefs." Wheeljack advised, his vocal patterns turning bright once more.

"Somehow I don't think so. He's always been driven by logic. Most earthen religions defy logic... It's just belief. Religions of Cybertron may be based on some form of logic... Even history. I don't know anything about them so I can't pretend to know. But he would see the logic that he is not of Cybertron and therefore not included in that. I know how my partner thinks." Michael offered with a sad smile. "Most of the people who have ever met him, talk to him as if he's human after just a few moments. The only one that still claims he's just a computer is Kitt himself. The logic side of him won't let him deal with it all..."

"Sort of a never ending paradox..." Wheeljack mused, gaining a nod of agreement from Michael.

"Sometimes I wonder if the old man knew what he was doing. Ya know Wilton figured out how to do it... Before he could put it together he had two of them. One flopped... One didn't. But he created... Kitt. It's like he made a child that'll never be able to take care of himself. That'll never be able to strike out on his own or even leave us."

Wheeljack nodded thoughtfully, as he stared off into space a moment. His vocals lit up as if he where about to speak but he never got the chance.

"Hey Wheeljack where's the little freak of nature that's been followin' ya around all morning?"

Michael tensed and shot a glare at the speaker. An Autobot shorter than most of the others... Brawn if he recalled correctly. "Now wait just a minute..." He was abruptly stopped as Jazz silently put a hand on the table and shook his head. He would take care of this. He didn't need the human getting involved.

"Now Brawn your way out of line."

"Oh come on Jazz... That thing is creepy and you know it. Have ya heard it talk?" Brawn pointed out as he crossed the rec room and poured a bit of energon from the dispenser. "I mean... Come on... Someone went to a huge bit of trouble to make it sound like it's actually alive."

"Of course it's not alive. Any idiot can see that."

The familiar voice cut through the air, pulling the attention of every bot (and human) in the room. It had come from... Kitt?

"What's wrong? Unable to refer to me as 'the freak of nature' when I am present? Well let me help you out and clarify that a bit. The definition of life, via a quick reference from the world wide web is the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally." The Trans-am paused for a moment, scanner skipping as Brawn remained silent, though optics glowed in silent rage.

"I can see you are already lost... Perhaps intelligent life in the universe is a bit to strong a word for certain mechanisms... Allow me to... Tone it down a bit." That brought on a snort of amusement from the corner of the Rec room the twins had been occupying. Brawn only glared. "Life is something that requires an energy source, grows, adapts to its surroundings and reproduces. Now I do take in fuel as most would take in food and water but I don't think that counts... I am as intelligent today as I was the day of my creation therefore there is no growth... I can not adapt on my own accord... You will also be very hard pressed to find a method of reproduction on a Trans-am. Therefore by definition I am not life. I never claimed to be. I am a computer. A very fancy and expensive one. Now... If I am not life... How can I have anything to do with nature let alone be a freak of it?" Kitt pointed out with a somewhat triumphant skip of his scanner.

Michael let out a heavy sigh, though Brawn had yet to say a word. Hands clenched into fists at his sides, but for the moment the Trans-am was in some what of a safe zone. None of them aware of just how much punishment the car could take... Plus the fact that starting a fight with the Trans-am would result in more than just a little brig time when the big wigs got word of it.

"Nothing to say to that? Do you need me to give you the definition of the big words?" Kitt questioned, sounding rather sympathetic to the plight. That brought on another snort of amusement from the twin's side of the room. Apparently they where loving the show. Something was happening that had trouble involved, that for once didn't involve either of them. After a moment Kitt went on. "It doesn't really matter. The point I am trying to make is that I have at no point claimed to be alive. If you want to see me as something, see me as a vision of human intellect. The legacy of a truly brilliant man and nothing more." Kitt offered, scanner skipping in what Michael had learned to define as a smile.

"Now that, that unpleasantry is out of the way... Michael... Prowl is looking for you. He asked me to find you." Kitt offered with that chipper tone he was so good at and silently backed out of the room again, driving off down the hall, strains of some classical orchestra following him down the hall as he cranked up his radio.

For a long moment the rec room was silent as all bots (and a human) stared at the door, that only moment ago had a Trans-am parked there... It was several minutes before somewhere in the back Sideswipe's voice spoke up. "I like that car."

That information began to slowly sink into the room as the silence broke in a dull murmur. Not the part of weather or not Kitt was a sentient being... The fact that Brawn had just had his own aft handed to him was far more interesting.

"Wow..." Jazz muttered, just as speechless as the rest of them. After a moment he turned to the still dumbfounded Brawn and leveled his gaze on him. "Don't think this is over yet Brawn." He stated simply and held out his hand to Michael. "Need a lift?"

Michael only nodded and stepped onto the offered hand, allowing himself to be lifted from the table as Jazz got up and headed off to find Prowl.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

_L.A. California_

Afternoon traffic jams... She hated them.. Absolutely hated them... A sea of egotistical maniacs who all felt they deserved to be moving before anyone else. The absolute boredom of sitting in the sweltering sun and staring at the tail lights of another car was sheer torment on her mind.

In the beginning of this horrible little torture session... Karr hadn't seen the point of complaining. They where stuck in traffic. Why was it such a problem? However, after an hour of moving at a snail's pace because a bunch of humans up ahead had decided to choose the busiest time of the day to attempt to improve the condition of the road... A never ending project that could have waited until a quieter time at least... He was about ready to blow a fuse. Figuratively and literally.

Elizabeth groaned softly as Karr was forced to stop once again and leaned her head back on the seat. Hoodie had been shed hours ago, leaving her in a black tank top, now bare arm draping idly out the window of the Trans-am. Ahead of them the signs of road construction where just starting to come into view, though that didn't mean they where about to start moving again any time soon.

"You know Karr... I think serial killers have flipped out over less than this. Now I understand the true meaning of 'road rage'."

"Road Rage... An act of violence or anger centered around events occurring on the road ways-"

"Alright, alright." Elizabeth cut in, a soft chuckle let out. "Really Karr, you need to learn to loosen up a bit."

"Loosen up?" Karr questioned slowly, his processors racing to bring up possible meanings. "What would you like to loosen?"

"That's not what I meant." Eli laughed, eyes closing as she shook her head with a somewhat exasperated chuckle.

"Then what do you mean? By definition, to loosen something is to-"

"Yeah if you want to be technical about it." Eli cut in before he could get off onto much more of a lecture. "I meant for you to relax. Ease up. You're way to uptight and literal about everything. Just because I say something that you don't quite know the meaning of, doesn't mean you have to rattle off a literal definition."

"How else would I know what you are saying?" He questioned, puzzlement coloring his voice.

"Ask me. 'Sides most of what I'm saying isn't the literal definition now is it?"

He paused for several long moments before letting out a soft 'true..'.

A good five minutes was spent in companionable silence as Karr was allowed to pull forward a few inches again, then stopped as the break lights of the van in front of him lit up. To Eli's amusement Karr muttered a soft curse at the situation in general. The fact that Karr swore almost made him seem a little more human.

"Where do you want to go for food?" Karr's question shook her from her musings, her attention snapping back to the lights that lit up when he spoke.

"Huh?"

"I said where do you want to go for food?" Karr repeated, amusement touching his voice.

"I don't know... Where do you want to go?"

Now he was definitely amused. "Since I will not be eating, it matters little to me Eli."

"Alright..." She mused then let a smirk cross her features. "Where do you want to go for gas?"

He thought about that one relatively quickly. "Shell station."

"You know Chevron is better for your engine." Eli offered with a soft snicker.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you where the one who had to guzzle the stuff." Karr pointed out, the entire car quivering in what Eli could only define as a shudder.

"But you were the one going on about health earlier!" Eli declared with a laugh.

"Fine! You don't complain about the fuel I take and I won't complain about the food you take. No matter what grease pit you choose." Karr bargained, another shudder given at the thought of the fuel she was attempting to get him to take.

Eli thought on that for a few moments, soft snickers let out. "Deal and I wanna go there. It's shiny." She stated, pointing at a low key, 50's style diner not to far up the road. Indeed it was shiny... Almost every wall was covered in chrome plating. Shiny wasn't the word for it. More like tacky...

"Fine..." Karr muttered, silently flipping his turning signal on and cutting off a low set sports car, earning a blare of a car horn and a very rude gesture of one finger. Eli rolled her eyes and held her hand out the window, repeating the gesture right back on Karr's behalf.

Within' a few moments Karr had cut his way out of the horrible lines of traffic and pulled into the diner, his driver's side door clicking open. "However, please... Try to stay away from greasy Fred's daily special..." He pleaded as Eli pealed herself out of the car. All Eli could do was laugh softly to herself as she made her way inside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_L.A. International Airport_

"I hate flying..."

Devon Miles couldn't hold back the exasperated sigh as Bonnie repeated her current monolog of her distaste for flying for the hundredth time in just a few minutes.

"I know Bonnie... But this is by far the faster method of travel... Besides, we will be much more comfortable aboard Skyone than traveling in the Semi."

"Not if we all die." Bonnie shot back her eyes locked on the sky. In the air Skyone was just coming into view. The massive plane swept in from the east, circling around until it was aligned with it's designated runway. Engines turned and twisted as it seemed to hover in mid air for a moment before slowly starting its decent.

It was truly a magnificant creation... Wilton's first creation actually. Before Kitt... Even before Karr... He had designed a plane... The government had taken it away. It had taken years, and years of begging and pleading but it had finally paid off in Skyone. When Knight Industries had agreed to cooperate with the government the plane was supplied... No one brought up the fact that it was the same one they had taken away from the old man in the first place. Frankly they were to grateful to have it back. It was a work of art in itself.

It came straight down like a Helicopter. No other plane that they knew of could do that. From the inside it was almost impossible to even know when the plane was moving. But for the softest of thumps when it landed or took off, the flight was normally very smooth.

Once it was only a few feet from the ground, it paused. It hovered for a few moments as the landing gear was lowered, the plane then making the final decent as it touched down with a soft thump. It was the safest plane in creation... Bonnie still hated it...

"Bonnie Skyone is the safest plane you could ever travel in. It has more backup systems than I can count. Even if all four engines where to fail, backup systems would still allow the plane to come to a safe landing." Devon reasoned gently. "Wilton Knight designed it himself. It's perfectly safe."

"He designed it thirty years ago Devon!" Bonnie complained, though that only gained a somewhat tolerant smile.

"It has been updated since then I assure you."

"It's been hijacked." She pointed out stubbornly as the plane's engines began gearing down, the steady roar, lowering itself to the high pitched whine of jet engines cooling off.

"That only happened once." Devon pointed out gently. "The error in security has since been fixed."

"I don't want to be on another plane that could be hijacked." She stated flatly.

"It's been fixed." Devon stated just as stubbornly as the engines cut off entirely, leaving them with the dull ringing of a roaring engine.

"There could be another way we haven't thought of yet!" Her voice was getting higher. She was about to hit panic and Devon knew it.

"Bonnie..."

"No Devon. There is no way in hell I'm getting on that plane." She stubbornly stated, digging in her heels so to speak over the matter.

The side of the plane opened, a low hiss let out as a ramp was let down, exposing the vast open garage to the outside world. Within' a moment Dante's grill appeared in the opening, the vehicles anxious to get off the plane for a few moments.

The light reflected off his silvery hide as he descended the ramp, Attack Beast right on his back bumper. The truck jumped and hopped forward as if his driver was physically holding him back from surging on. More than likely that was the case... The mission they had been on hadn't allowed them much time off the plane.

Despite her fight with rising panic, Bonnie smiled at the sight of them. She had a hand in the activation of all five... She loved them almost as much as she loved Kitt. It was certainly good to see them again.

Dante paused for a moment on the ramp and suddenly surged forward. That was it for the rest of them. They jumbled off the plane, no matter the complaints of their drivers.

Devon and Bonnie just as abruptly found themselves surrounded by chattering AI's. Through the middle of it, Kyle peeled himself from the driver's seat of Dante, the man sidestepping around Domino, who was all but bouncing on her shocks.

"I promise they're not always like this." He offered to Devon with a soft chuckle. The older man only smiled, and shook his head as Bonnie bent down, to give an affectionate pat to each vehicle.

Slowly as said vehicles calmed down a bit, the other human members of the team began to peel themselves away from their own partners. Duke thumped down from the driver's seat of Beast and silently moved to join his team leader infront of Devon. He also happened to be the only one who earned an almost murderous glare from Bonnie as she gave Beast an extra pat.

"She still hasn't forgiven me has she?" Duke muttered, earning a smile from Devon as he shook his head.

"Start calling her babies by name and stop referring to them as cars and she just might." Devon pointed out. An old argument. The others had accepted their partners for what they were. Duke was still stubborn about referring to Beast as anything but a truck. Even after several of partnership. Out loud he would never, dare admit he cared anything for the truck. Didn't mean he didn't... However, it still earned him scathing glares from Bonnie.

"Alright what's the situation?" Kyle suddenly put in, all business in a moment as the rest of his team gathered around them.

"Kyle you and Duke are to remain here with your partners and pick up a search for Karr. His last known location was here in L.A. All of his possible targets have been locked down with extra security... Keep in mind that he may have moved on so have Dante and Beast keep their scanners on a very wide range. Also remember that at this point we believe he may have a human hostage. That young girl has yet to turn up. If you encounter him, do not actively engage unless you are certain he is alone." Devon instructed, gaining slow nods from the group.

"The rest of you are going to accompany Bonnie and I to Oregon." That gained a soft squeak from Bonnie. "Much to Bonnie's distaste of the prospect of flying there..."

"It's not that bad Bonnie. A little boring maybe, but it's really not frightening." Domino chipped in. Bonnie smiled gratefully and gave her hood a light pat.

"Alright... From there Dante has all of the information that is needed, uploaded from one of Kitt's systems... If there are no further questions I suggest we hit the road." That brought a round of nods from the group.

Dante and Beast remained back a ways as the rest of the group silently reboreded Skyone. Within' moments they where alone with their drivers. The Semi slowly ascended the ramp into Skyone and as soon as the ramp was closed again, the engines where gearing up for take off.

"Kinda strange watching it leave ain't it?" Duke questioned slowly, gaining a nod from Kyle.

"It certainly is..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Decepticon HQ Pacific Ocean_

It was a surreal feeling... It truly was... His level of vision had changed. Before this his vision had been set low to the ground from all angles. The level of his sensors supported on the body of a Firarri. Now... He was staring at a blank surface. For a long while he had fathomed the surface. Considered it... Didn't understand it... There was a light up there... A light set into a wall?

No... Those metallic faces had leaned over him. Looked at him. Prodded at him as his systems adjusted to wherever it was he had been placed. They had made comments to each other, speaking softly. Often in a language that was not available to any of his processors. A high pitched, series of beeps and clicks that he vaguely understood to be their language. It sounded a bit like R2D2.

Every now and again one of them would ask him something. Verbal replies were all he could accomplish. He couldn't move... Couldn't bring up the information he normally could.

There was someone leaning over him... He now knew he had been staring at a ceiling. Not his normal vantage point in the least. He didn't understand how it was even possible. The one who was apparently working on him had been speaking in that series of clicks and beeps for some time, communicating to the others. Hook... He knew that's what his name was. He had introduced himself... He wasn't polite by a long shot, but he was proud of his work and what he did.

It was like a surge ran through him. He let out a yelp as sensations suddenly came flooding into him. He arched off the table at the shock of the sudden impulse... The fact that he was suddenly being restrained was not lost on him... Only adding to the fact that he now could move. He let out another cry of anguish as he attempted to twist away from those metallic hands, but there was no give... He was outnumbered. After a moment he calmed, his gaze traveling around the room, now that he could turn his head. There where many of them. These metallic creatures...

"Kro..." That soothing voice again. To soothing. It was trying to lull him into security. His gaze locked on the tall silver mechanism that he somehow knew without a doubt to be their leader.

"There was another system with you... Do you know it?"

Kro thought back. He had the files on all of the Knight vehicles that where created before and shortly after his activation. He possibly knew it...

"System? Knight Vehicle?" He questioned, gaining a slow nod from the silver one... No... Megatron. Somewhere in his mind he grasped that information. This one's name was Megatron.

"Know... Some of them. If it was built before The Dark... After that I don't know."

The dark... The block... A horrid place... That was what it was now to him. The Dark...

"We received a signal from the system being held at the same lab you were."

"Failed projects..." Kro mused slowly. He didn't know how but he knew that. Figured that was where he would go. "Lab?"

"Yes... A lab." Megatron was getting annoyed with his complexity. He knew it...

"No... Lab?" He questioned again then briefly shut off visual forcing himself to focus. "Where was the lab?"

When visual came back on, Megatron looked thoughtful but pleased, the irritation seeming to have faded. "Northern California."

"Failed projects." Kro stated again, a nod given.

"Failed? As in non functional?" Megatron questioned. Again that irritation.

"No... Failed as in dangerous. Systems function properly. Programmers often at fault." He explained slowly. He couldn't understand why his vocals were so... Sluggish... "First system there... Karr... He killed. A tech he killed. Was an accident. Frightened Wilton Knight. Failed project. I was there... I killed... Five I killed. They were... Threat to Martin. I am failed project... Other systems there. Flaws in programming... Dangerous. They are failed projects. Failed by Knight standards."

Megatron nodded slowly, his thoughts seeming to wander.

"There where other projects there?"

"Many destroyed by now..."

Another nod. "What of the other system? We received two separate signals." Megatron pointed out. "Yours... As weak as it was in that block... And the system that drew us to that place in the first place. What of that system?"

Kro, briefly let his vision die in what some would consider a blink. "Give me signal?" He questioned, the brief stirring of curiosity touching his mind. He wanted to know who this other system was...

Megatron turned away from him and spoke to someone else. Brief series of clicks and beeps... Some places like the static of a radio... Glittering crimson optics then turned back to Kro.

"In a moment. Can you move?"

He could... Didn't mean he wanted to. Kro shifted briefly, attempting to feel for his tires. He found none... Appendages branched out from him. It felt as if his point of vision was on the top of his trunk, appendages stretching out from where his tires had been. He gave the equivalent of another blink as he slowly lifted one of the appendages. The light was sucked into ebony armor, the strange stealth material seeming to pull it all in, and let none of it back out. Attached to the appendage was a hand, five digits sprouting off of that... The metal beneath the armor plating was that same deep black, seeming to be a hole torn into the light.

"What have you done to me?" He whispered softly. Again he had to be physically restrained as he attempted to lunge off the table and flee his own body.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Autobot HQ Oregon_

"First off Michael, allow me to express my deepest apologies on behalf of the behavior of my troops..."

Michael gave a blink as he was set down, on the hard surface of Optimus Prime's desk. Behind him Prowl stood as stoic as ever, a deeply troubled look set in his normally neutral features. "Wow... News travels fast..."

That brought on a soft chuckle from Jazz. "Internal radio man."

Oh well that made sense...

"Indeed." Prime offered, a nod given to that information. "Jazz rarely uses his positions as an officer to report things such as this but in this case he felt it important... Be assured Brawn will be dealt with. I am certain after cleaning the floors of the brig for the next few months he will think twice before again mouthing off as I believe the humans say."

Michael chuckled softly and nodded. "Wow... And I thought the punishments Devon could dole out on Kitt where harsh." He commented then gave a nod. He had to admit... The 'bot deserved it.

"Prime man you shoulda seen it. Kitt handed Brawn his own aft without laying a tire on him. It was sweet." Jazz commented, a grin crossing his facial plating.

"Kitt always did have a razor tongue and a vocabulary to make your head spin." Michael commented with a soft chuckle. He was proud of his vehicle. There was no question in that... If not a little troubled of exactly what had been said... Still though, even if he didn't agree with it... Facing off against robot with a big gun and in more words than really necessary calling him ignorant took guts. He was proud of Kitt. Simply for standing up for himself he was proud of him.

"Despite the fact Kitt seemed to handle himself rather well. I still apologize. Brawn had no right to state what he did.

To their surprise Michael only nodded. "It's nothing Kitt hasn't heard before. Half the time from Knight Industries itself. Half of the bored look at him and see a fancy computer and the other half see something that's just downright creepy. We're the only supporters that Kitt has left these days."

That brought on a slow nod from the Autobot leader, somewhat troubled expression crossing his features.

"But I get the feeling I wasn't called up here to talk about Kitt and his little tiff since to come up here is why Kitt was there to be in it in the first place... So what's up?"

"Well first off, we received a transmission not long ago that your Team Knight Rider landed in L.A. and has since taken off again. They are now in rout to Autobot H.Q. Second, several steel companies have been hit, along with a few electronics companies that often supply us with the medical supplies we need. We believe that the Decepticons are attempting to repair Kro."

Michael groaned and closed his eyes. Could this day get any worse?

"We also feel we must alert you to a hack into your own account systems."

His attention snapped up. Eh?

A video screen sprang to life behind Prime and only then did Michael notice Prowl had been tapping at a keyboard looking object. It was a bank parking lot...

"This video was taken minutes before a Knight Industries account was hacked into." Prowl explained. Michael watched in growing concern as a black and white Trans-am pulled up to an ATM machine. A young girl slowly crawled out of the driver's seat and approached the machine. He could see her pick up a handful of bills and return to the car and drive off. There was absolutely no doubt who the car was.

"How did you get this?" He questioned slowly, drawing a barely heard chuckle from Prime.

"Kitt gave us the account numbers to monitor. He felt there may be some activity there. Something about it happening before. He claimed that we would have a much wider range than he would, though I find that doubtful in his own company systems..."

Michael couldn't help but laugh and shook his head. "He didn't want to admit a weakness to you. He can't scan out. His systems aren't working in here. To much led in the walls. He says the best he can do inside is a visual. Though he could go park outside if he really wanted to keep an eye on those numbers."

"That would put him further away from you." Prowl reasoned, a knowing look his face plates. He was already getting it. "Kitt doesn't trust us."

"Do you trust him?" Michael asked flatly. That gained a rather extended silence. "Thought so..."

"Michael it's not that we don't trust him." Prime explained slowly, attempting to smooth over the brewing argument before it really got started. "You have to understand how strange this is for a Cybertronian to accept."

"That an Earthling could create someone like Kitt?" Michael challenged, though to his surprise Prime shook his head.

"No. That an Earthling could create someone like Kitt without the help of the matrix."

That brought a puzzled look from the human as he made a face.

"Our method of creation Michael..."

"Oh!" Now a look of understanding. Now he got it. Kitt fit absolutely nowhere into their culture and beliefs... "Hey trust me... I understand. I went through the same thing when I first met Kitt. Ya know the how can my car be alive thing. Ya get use to him and eventually ya just accept him for who he is."

"That is going to be very difficult for many of the Autobots to accept. As you have probably already found out through Brawn's little outburst. Not all of my troops will be willing to welcome Kitt into our midst. I will attempt to dis sway anymore outbursts like that however..."

"You can't stop them all." Michael finished, a slight nod given. "I understand. Don't worry about Kitt he can take care of himself. Though I'll try to get him to curb his own attitude in the process. No sense in him encouraging a brewing argument..."

That would only gain a nod from the Autobot leader as he silently circled around the desk. "Alright, then I suppose that's it." He mused, his attention turning to Michael. "Thank you for your time Mr. Knight. I'll keep you posted." He promised, his gaze then sweeping to Jazz. "Jazz if you don't mind... Send Brawn in..."

Jazz only smirked and gave a nod. That he could do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_L.A. California_

It felt good not to be hungry... It was a rather strange feeling after living on shoplifted moon pies but it did feel good. She felt... At ease almost. Even stranger considering the oddness that surrounded her current predicament.

She had sat down in a booth where she could see outside the windows the wrapped around the diner. Karr sat peacefully outside, the sunlight reflecting off his ebony finish. He almost looked rather content sitting out there parked as he was. She chuckled softly and silently picked up the check, before moving over to the counter to pay for her food. The waitress cast her a pleasant smile as she paid, and for the first time she simply felt like another person in L.A. Not some homeless kid that was trying to make her own on the street.

As she stepped out into the sunlight she couldn't help but smile, a good stretch given as she checked the surrounding area. Just across the side street to the side of the diner a little shell station sat. Smile spread 'cross her face as she shook her head a bit and made her way over to Karr. She wasn't surprised when the door clicked open. "So cars really have a preference when it comes to fuel?"

"Most cars are not sentient beings and do not. I however do simply because of the way it runs through my system." Karr explained quietly, as his engine roared to life.

Eli rest a hand at six o'clock on the steering wheel, silently sinking back into the seat as she allowed Karr to navigate his way across the street and pull into the service station.

"So what is it like a taste thing, or is more like texture... Like some people can't stand Jello because of the way it feels..."

"It's a little hard to describe." Karr would offer simply. "Some fuels have more of a burn when going through an engine. They are better for the engine, keeping certain parts clean and the like but I find the burn unpleasant. Some fuels have a little more texture to them and are a bit smoother on a working engine. These fuels can allow build up on the engine block but I don't feel the burn nearly as much with them."

"So... The fuel that's good for you like hurts or somethin'?"

"Not hurt so to speak. It's not really a physical pain as much as it is an annoyance."

"Oh... Like when you have a really sour taste in your mouth?" She questioned slowly, beginning to come to terms with that.

"Possibly... I've never had a very sour taste in my 'mouth' so I can not make that comparison."

Eli nodded quietly and twisted around, sliding out of the seat again as Karr came to a stop and popped the door open. "You want Premium?" She questioned, gaining what almost sounded like a soft purr from the vehicle.

"Yes please."

She chuckled softly and silently lifted the pump, idly leaning back against the vehicle as she filled his tank. The car she leaned against was surprisingly warm to touch. Like a living thing under her hand. A little odd but it made sense. Soft sigh was released from her as she closed her eyes, her head leaning back and quietly enjoyed the mid day sun as she let Karr's tank fill up.

"Hey there. That's one hell of a ride ya got there." She opened an eye to the male voice that had approached, soft sigh of annoyance let out for the disruption of her moment of peace and quiet.

"Thank you." She stated simply, a forced smile shot at the young man. He looked to be in his early twenties.

"What kind of-" He was cut off abruptly as the car beneath her let out a low rumble, causing the young man to eye it suspiciously and take a step back.

"Car Alarm." She explained simply.

"Never heard a car alarm like that..."

Eli flinched as Karr suddenly seemed to come to life. Horn beeped, and lights flashed, sending the young man quickly on his way. Despite the seriousness of the situation she couldn't help but chuckle softly once the alarms had stopped. "What was that all about?"

"He was up to something..." Karr stated simply.

Eli only smiled and shook her head. "Overprotective much?"

Karr didn't have an answer for that. Eli let out a soft chuckle as she replaced the pump into the cradle and quietly walked into the service station. A dinky little place. Small compared to some of the truck stops in the area, along the interstate. Still though, fuel was fuel and it was where Karr had wanted to go.

Soft yawn was let out as she stepped into line, her voice hitching into a soft little hum. Ahead of her a large dark skinned male that looked like he could take on a tank stood idly shifting back and forth. She gave a slight frown as she studied him for a moment but shrugged. Something about him. He was dressed simply in black jeans and a white t-shirt. Nothing spectacular... Though for some reason something told her to get the hell out of there.

She jumped out of her thoughts as the man stepped forward, to the cash register, the person that had been in line ahead of them, turning around to head off. A tall man with short blond hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes meeting the eyes of the man ahead of her, speaking to him in a low voice before he made his way past Eli. His eyes locked with hers for a moment as he passed, causing her to shrink back before he silently made his way back outside again. She watched him move outside and get into a silver SUV parked just outside the door. She had walked past the SUV coming in. Nice looking vehicle. Beside it sat parked a black F-150. Again, nice lookin' truck... Something about it though.

Deep frown crossed her as something caught the attention of the man infront of her. He silently payed for his purchase as his head tilted to the side. Only then did she spot the brief flicker of something white in his ear... Like some security officers used. He waited until his change was handed back to him, before he turned around, his dark brown eyes locking with hers. Pleasant smile crossed his face, though still Eli backed up.

If it wasn't for the position she was in, she would have found him pleasant enough. He seemed friendly... He reminded her of someone her father use to work with. The man had always been quick with a joke and always seemed to be one step ahead of her when she was much younger. He had always known when she was up to something. Even if she didn't yet.

"Hey there miss. That your car outside?" He questioned, jerking his head towards the gas pumps. She nodded dumbly and silently stepped up to the register to pay for her gas.

"Nice set of wheels. Where did you get it?"

"Ah well it's a used car... You know how it goes... It sort of found me. It just kinda jumped up and yelled 'take me home I'm yours!'" She commented with a smile, a soft laugh given to ease the tension that had suddenly taken over her. Something wasn't right...

"I know how that is. It was the same with my truck." He commented, idly leaning back against the counter.

"I'm Duke by the way. Duke DePalmer. And you are?"

She balked for a moment as a loud noise arose from outside. Again Karr's horn was going off, his lights flashing quickly on and off.

"Eli..." She muttered slowly and silently took her change from the woman behind the counter. "Sorry... The car kinda has a few bugs to work out yet." She offered hurriedly and rushed away from the counter, quickly pocketing her change. Outside the blond man was slowly stepping out of his car and moving to block her way.

She froze in the doorway, her gaze snatching between him and Karr. She wasn't going to make it...

Karr suddenly roared to life, leaping forward as Eli ducked back into the store. Like a shot Karr roared through the parking lot and disappeared around the side of the building. Eli blinked at the now empty spot as the blond rushed back to his SUV. Had Karr just abandoned her?

There was a beep and she spun around quickly ducking under the arm that Duke had attempted to trap her with and rushed through a display. She tipped it over, ignoring the words of protest from the woman behind the counter. It slowed Duke down for a few moments as he crashed into it. Just a little to big to be ducking around stands it seemed.

As soon as Eli turned around a sigh of relief was pulled from her. The store had two exits. On the other side was the diesel racks for trucks, another glass door in the back leading its way out to it. She bolted down the aisle another rack pulled down as she pelted towards the door. She could hear Duke right on her heels as she pushed the door open and rushed out. The passenger side door of Karr was already open as he slowed to a crawl, though not entirely willing to stop. Like a shot she bolted for him. Around the corner there was a shriek of tires on pavement, the silvery form of Dante screaming out into the open.

She leapt for Karr, landing in his passenger seat with a soft 'oomf'. She had just barely pulled her feet inside the vehicle when he slammed the door shut and took off again, speeding out onto the highway.

"Who the hell are they?" She yelled, as she slid into the driver's seat.

"I don't know! Their vehicles have Knight signatures but it's nothing I've ever seen! I didn't even pick them up. If it wasn't for the energy they put out I would have missed them all together!"

He sounded more than a little disturbed on that note... She swallowed hard and gripped the steering wheel though she wasn't driving as Karr wove his way through traffic. Behind them the silver SUV was hot on their tails, the black truck not all that far behind.

"Can you look up a name?" She questioned slowly, keeping her eyes locked on the rear view mirror.

"Of course." Karr responded, expertly cutting his way around a semi.

"Look up the name Duke DePalmer." She instructed.

Karr cut off a mini van and changed lanes as his monitor sprang to life, text flying by faster than she could read.

"Duke DePalmer. Ex Chicago police officer, now a member of Team Knight Rider, a team working under The Foundation of Law and Government... Backed by the company Knight Industries!" He yelped, speeding up just a bit as the information scrolled past.

"Friends of yours?" She questioned, though she highly doubted it. If they were, they had one hell of a way of saying hello!

"Hardly... More production line models I would imagine."

"Production line what?"

"Never mind. Just hang on!" Karr ordered, the Trans-am speeding up to impossible speeds as he wove in and out of rush hour traffic. Horns blared at them as Karr took it upon himself to cut off some old man in a Lexus.

Through it all the SUV stayed right on his back bumper. The truck had fallen way back. Still in close range if needed but not exactly built for high speed car chases.

"From what I can tell of the rest of Team Knight Rider... The SUV behind us is the vehicle Dante, driven by Kyle Stewart, leader of TKR. The truck that DePalmer drives is Attack Beast. Also known as Beast."

"So their like more of you?"

"That is incorrect. They are inferior."

She rolled her eyes, and was forced to brace herself against the steering wheel as Dante came a tad to close, bumping Karr's bumper roughly. "Yeah they seem really inferior... So what do we do?"

"I would suggest driving very fast." Karr stated flatly.

"Wonderful suggestion there Einstein..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Footsteps rang out through the mammoth hallways as Michael hurried towards the main comm room. Behind him Kitt tagged along with Wheeljack not all that far behind. The page had been quick and rather insistent. That alone was rather troubling.

The comm room was a bustle of activity, the slight sweeping feeling of way to much activity briefly taking over as he stopped in the doorway and took it all in.

"Michael, an emergency transmission has come in for you and Kitt." Prowl explained, the tactician coming in from seemingly nowhere. Just how he managed that was out of Michael's realm of reasoning...

"For me?"

"A Kyle Stewart."

Michael swore at the information and hurried forward. Behind him Kitt anxiously pulled in close, attempting to see the screen of Teletran One as the normal stats and daily information paused to make way for the image of the TKR logo. After a moment it was replaced by the circling image of a Ford Expedition. Dante...

"Dante? What's up, where's Kyle?"

"Driving. His multitasking capabilities are not up to par in this event." Came the crisp reply of the team's somewhat stuffy SUV. Voice quick and light, a soft British accent highlighting the words.

"That's fine... What's going on Dante?"

"We've located Karr." Was the simple reply. In a moment the screen changed from the spinning SUV to what for a moment looked like some car chase in a movie. It took Michael several minutes to figure out what he was looking at.

He had only seen Kitt do this once before. Dante had switched over to visual, allowing them to see what he was seeing, minus the random readouts. The image shifted, zooming through traffic as the sensors on Dante's front end picked up everything he was seeing as he swept his way through traffic. Just ahead of him, the black and white fender of a Trans-am swerved his way in and out of traffic, just barely avoiding vehicles.

"Dante!" Michael yelled, irritation flickering across his features. "Devon told you not to engage. You were just suppose to keep an eye on him."

"Trust me Michael, the meeting was both accidental and unavoidable. He no longer carries a known Knight Industries electronic signature. In a sense we did not know what we were looking at until it was to late." Dante explained, sounding irritated on that note.

Behind them Kitt made a soft strangled sound and quietly backed up. Prowl shot him a curious look, but Michael seemed to ignore his partner. To Prowl's trained audios the vehicle almost sounded a little... Guilty?

"Alright, alright... Just be careful." Michael commented, a flinch crossing his features as Karr suddenly disappeared. The black vehicle had cut to the right, sliding his way underneath the trailer of a semi truck and out on the other side. From the transmission they heard Kyle curse and slow down, slinging Dante around to the other side of the truck where the Trans-am had reappeared.

The sports car was getting desperate. It surged forward around the semi, seeming to be playing keep away from Dante... Dante surged forward, but it seemed it wasn't entirely needed. Karr was forced to hit the breaks as a black truck cut him off. Beast had joined the fray...

Karr balked and shot to the side again, once more whipping his way under the semi's trailer who had finally had enough and hit his breaks. Dante braked hard and swept around to the other side in time to spot Karr reemerging and shooting forward. Ahead of him Attack Beast swept in, just barely clipping the back fender of the car. Karr fishtailed dangerously in and out of traffic for a moment before he abruptly surged forward, hitting turbo boost, vaulting his way over the trailer of a rig, his tires barely clipping the top of the cargo. The massive road pipes shivered as the shock went through them, the straps holding them down snapping and flying back. Dante yelped as he braked, one of the ties whipping across his side and leaving a deep groove.

Ahead of them Karr had disappeared around the rig as Beast and Dante were forced to stop before a true accident was caused.

"Should we continue pursuit?" Dante questioned, but Michael shook his head.

"No. To dangerous. Just keep an eye out for him and see if you can smooth things over with that accident."

"Well that was a complete waist of time." Beast's smooth southern voice suddenly put in, the image replaces by a duel split screen. One half consisted of the rotating SUV the other a rotating Ford F-150.

"Not entirely." Dante scolded softly. "We learned something." He pointed out, the screen suddenly shifting once more. An image from Dante's cameras filled the screen. A young girl leaving the gas station they had stopped at. A very clear image of her face.

"Great job Dante!" Michael stated, a smile crossing his face. "Got anything on her?"

"Of course Michael. Elizabeth Davenport. Sixteen years of age. Last known residence is labeled as Hilton, North Carolina. Reported missing by foster parents Judith and Randy Conners. It is believed that she ran away from home." Dante reported, pulling up another picture of the same girl. This time a mug shot. "She has a rather interesting record. It seems Ms. Davenport is rather fond of art. Especially on the sides of buildings..."

"I'm guessing we're not talking about church murals here... Alright Dante. Keep an eye out and keep in mind that we need to consider that girl a hostage. Even if she's probably willingly staying with Karr. She's in a lot more danger than she realizes. Beast keep out of trouble. Michael out." Michael stated simply, silently cutting the transmission and turning to face the rest of the group. "Well then... Karr's causing trouble already..."

The response was a soft murmur as those who had stopped silently went back to whatever it was they were doing, the brief interest of a high speed car chase now over. From his little corner Kitt only heaved a deep sigh.

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"Wow that was sweet!" Eli yelled, looking back over her shoulder as Karr quickly drove away from the wreckage behind them.

"I wanna jump something else!"

Karr couldn't help the soft chuckle that left his vocals.

"That was so incredibly... Cool!" Eli yelled out, all but bouncing in her seat. "Did you see when you went under... Of course you did, you did it! That was so awesome! You went UNDER a truck!"

"That was dangerous." Karr reasoned softly, though he couldn't help the slight bit of pride he felt at the level Eli seemed to be impressed with him.

"Yeah but... That was awesome! Can we do it again?"

"Not now Eli. If it's needed again maybe."

Eli squealed happily and gripped the steering wheel.

"You're awesome Karr." She stated with a nod, falling silent as she sank back into the seat, some of the rush that had come upon her fading back now that they were driving straight and level again.

Still though... That brought on that quiet pride again. Soft, pleased murmur swept through him as he sped on ahead putting as much distance between himself and the two Knight vehicles as possible. He had actually rather enjoyed that...

With a happy little sigh he silently pulled up a wide range scanner, checking for more of them. Now that he knew the new signals he felt he could better track. Though it wasn't their signals that caught his attention. He stared at the input he was getting for several minutes as he allowed it to sink in. In a moment memories flashed back to the forefront of his mind...

_It froze just outside the building for a moment, the cool night air coupled with the steady pounding rain a shock to its sensors. The scene was something out of a science fiction novel... Up above three jets flew in steady circles, pelting the surrounding area with laser fire. From the sky three other jets had appeared but disappeared just as quickly, unfolding into robots? It seemed to defy quit a bit of logic but there they where..._

"Karr are you alright?" The voice was rather distant as his attention turned from his scanners to the sky.

_On the ground the same events where unfolding but from a different perspective. Vehicles unfolded into robots, stories high... That was all the Trans-am could take. It surged forward again flooring it as it sped out into the parking lot. It narrowly missed clipping a sign and a light post as it swerved to avoid abandoned vehicles._

"Karr! What's happening? Are you alright?" Eli's worried voice cut through his thoughts.

"No... We need to move. Now!" Karr blurted out surging forward. Eli let out a soft yelp and gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Karr the Knight vehicles are way back there we're safe!"

"Not from them..." Karr stated simply.

Eli blinked and silently gazed out the windshield. Above them three jets circled lazily.

"Karr their just..." The words died on her lips as one of them suddenly banked. She screamed as a jet painted the colors of red and white opened fire on them."

_To Be Continued..._


	4. Reunions and Deceptions

Disclaimer: Transformers and all characters there of belong entirely to Hasbro. Knight Rider and all characters there of belong to Glenn Larson. Team Knight Rider belongs to Universal Studios. The song lyrics belong to Jon Bon Jovi. Elizabeth is mine. Note that all crossovers bring on the longest disclaimers in the history of fanfiction...

Notes: I have had a few questions this time around! I will try to answer them as I can. So please if you have a question about the story and I have not answered it feel free to PM me. After all... My life is frazzled right now. Graduation woo!

ArmoredSoul: I can't answer that! Just keep in mind that I have that concern in mine. I did think about it and it actually ties in pretty big later on. Awesome that you caught that! However explaining my theories on it will give away a huge part of a later chapter. But if you REALLY wanna know. PM me. Would be happy to explain. And yes that's what he's getting at. That somewhere along the lines, a sentient AI was created. Which of course is what Michael and Bonnie already believed.

The Gandhara: What does he hope to accomplish? Hopefully I've explained that in this chapter hun. If I haven't feel free to prod me a little and I'll be happy to discuss theories of why Megatron does the things he does all day long XD Thank you for pointing that out to me. I always hated those little plot holes we were suppose to ignore and I almost fell into one myself! The horror! Thanks for throwing me a rope!

SevenStar: Yep I remembers! That concept was actually first discussed in K.R.O. And I tried to cut Brawn down a few pegs XD.

xXsomeoneelseXx: Yes I am! Glad you remember me. More of that fandom is coming to. Just had to start over on the third part since my computer had a little accident.

To everyone else... Thank you so much for all your comments! It is reviews that keeps me going so please don't stop now! I love feedback. If I missed anyone who wanted to know something PM me. I'm a frazzled writer who's brain isn't working so good.

Now to the story... This chapter was difficult to get out. Hence why it's taken so long. However I hope I made up for it by making it almost thirty pages long wow! I just REALLY wanted to get to the point I ended it at. Anyway... Rock on!

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_Reunions and Deceptions..._

It was rather incredible. He thought so every time he saw it... It came in from the East like some massive bird of prey... It was absolutely incredible.

"Autobot headquarters this is Sky One requesting permission to land."

"Permission granted Sky One. Proceed to the designated landing strip."

Even as the words rung out over the radio in Kitt's cabin, the plane banked. The landing strip was very seldom used but the Autobots made sure they had one available. As it was, it was no where near the size landing strip a jet the size of Skyone would have needed. Skyone was well larger than any commercial jet anyone would ever see. However, the up side was that Skyone didn't need a runway for a jet its size.

The engine sound changed as it approached, turning deeper, almost like the deep and repetitive womp of a helicopter. It slowed considerably over the basin that served as the grounds of Autobot base until it stopped entirely, hovering in mid air.

"Alright, now that's just neat... How is that even possible?" Wheeljack questioned from where he sat parked beside Kitt in his vehicle form.

"It's a rather fascinating process. The jets used are a much more controlled version of the engines used on the space shuttle. When controlled and brought down a few notches so to speak, they can be powerful enough to hold a jet in mid air for a short amount of time."

"Fascinating..." Wheeljack muttered softly. Well it was a simple thing really. In retrospect he had known that, though it was incredibly fascinating that the humans had come up with that. "That's an incredible feat that your engineers have come up with that."

"Oh not engineers Wheeljack. They have updated it a bit, but the design you see was created by Wilton Knight."

"You're creator?" Wheeljack questioned as the jet slowly began its decent, lowering itself like a helicopter down onto the ground. It's wheels touched ground with a soft thump, brief billows of dust put into the air before it settled, its engines slowly gearing down.

"Yes... It's only been within' the last decade that they brought the plane back to us in fact. When he created it a few decades ago it was so new, and so cutting edge that the government took it away. Said that the world wasn't ready for it or something of that nature. When we developed the team it took some agreement of working with the government that allowed us to have Sky One."

"So they took your own plane from you, then made you bargain to get it back?" Wheeljack questioned, a slight tilt of his frame given.

"Welcome to politics..."

Finally the plane entirely geared down and leveled out the cabin pressure, the massive doors to the garage slowly lowering. From inside a massive semi pulled into the doorway, slowly making its decent from the plane.

It stopped not far away from the plane, allowing for the remaining vehicles to make their way down. A bright red Mustang followed by a car of more futuristic design that was actually two motorcycles spliced together via a folding frame that would fold itself back against the frame of each bike when allowing for seperation. After a few moments two women and a young man walked down the ramp, chatting idly among themselves as a woman and an older gentleman silently hopped down from the trailer of the semi that had first left the plane.

At the sight of the woman leaving the semi, Kitt let out a happy sounding chirp and abruptly pulled forward, leaving Wheeljack alone as he quickly crossed the field that separated the gathered Autobots from the landing site.

"Hey Bonnie! Hey Devon!" The entire group cast a glance to Michael who had jumped up on top of a rock to wave at the two getting off of the semi. The one he had called Bonnie, promptly ignored him and dropped to her knees to be at the same level as Kitt as he quickly hurried up to her. She chuckled softly and patted his prow, speaking to the black sports car softly before getting to her feet and approaching the group. Kitt tagged along behind, apparently rather happy to have her firmly on the ground again.

Michael silently dropped down from his rock, a flinch crossing his features as aging bones complained about the sudden activity. "Prime this is Devon Miles... I believe you've already met him..."

"Indeed I have. I trust your flight was pleasant Mr. Miles?"

"It was. Sky One is always preferred over the cramped conditions of the Semi. No offence Prime..."

Prime chuckled softly and gave a nod in response. "None taken."

Michael only smiled and went on. "And this lovely lady is Kitt's Tech. Bonnie Barstow. She keeps him running and in good condition."

"She does an extraordinary job of it to." Kitt would comment from close behind his 'mother'.

Bonnie only let out a soft chuckle, her hand reaching back to give the sports car an affectionate pat on the hood.

"As refreshing as this little reunion is. Michael, I trust you've already heard that Dante and Beast have already encountered Karr." Devon would press, as per his normal routine getting right down to business.

"Yes, I've heard... He contacted us in mid pursuit. Anything else come of that?"

"As of yet no. Dante and Beast are keeping an extra scanner open, but Karr seems to have disappeared from the radar so to speak."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Lookout!"

Karr snatched to the side, the hot blast of plasma fire just barely sliding past his frame. That had been incredibly close...

"Eli sit back and fasten your seatbelt." Karr instructed, the steering wheel snatching to the side as he cut another sharp turn.

Eli did as she was told, quickly sitting back and making sure her seatbelt was firmly fastened. She then pulled her feet back close to the seat, her hands dropping beside her. She didn't want to get in the way of Karr's driving in the least. Not now.

"Karr... Those aren't Knight vehicles to are they?" She questioned slowly, a frightened quiver in her voice. They seemed to want them dead! Who were these people?

"No... I'm not sure what they are. However, I do not believe they are in any way connected with Knight Industries. Unfortunately I am a little to far out of the media loop to begin to guess at what they are without further research."

"Which you can't do right now." Eli commented softly.

"Exactly."

Eli sighed heavily and leaned over far enough to gaze out the windshield. The jets circled above them, keeping much lower than she thought they should. They had dipped below the rooftops of the old abandoned buildings they drove between. Every now and again one of them would drive, keeping the heat on and driving them onward. However, slowly she began to notice that they were aiming just off of Karr. They were herding him... She was almost positive of it!

"Karr... I think their herding you. Ya know like cattle... Are you sure their not with Knight Industries?"

"I'm positive." Karr responded, swerving again to avoid another round of fire.

"Maybe their those aliens..." Eli muttered softly to herself.

"...I beg your pardon?"

"Aliens. Oh what are the flying ones called..." Eli muttered, her eyes closing as she gently thumped her head against the driver's side window. "Decepticons! That's what they are! The cars are called Autobots."

"These aliens... Do you see them often?" Karr questioned slowly.

Eli rolled her eyes for a moment and shook her head. "I've never seen one in person. Their on the news all the time."

"Oh..." Karr muttered to himself, quickly swerving around a light post, his wheels locking as he abruptly changed direction and doubled back. The jets seemed to swoop down from all sides, opening fire just infront of the fleeing Trans-am forcing Karr to turn back around or risk being shot.

"See? Their herding you." Eli pointed out softly.

"I noticed..." Karr sped up through the narrow alley ways, the sports car rocketing forward as he just barely missed hitting a fire hydrant. In the action of swerving around said fire hydrant, sparks flew into the air on the other side, as Karr's passenger side scraped against the side of a building.

"What do they want?" Eli muttered softly, ducking down in the seat, and away from the windows.

"My guess would be, one of us..." Karr muttered softly, gunning it as he whipped his way 'round another corner. He didn't like being in this maze of ally ways... He was playing himself right into the path of these jets and he knew it. The shots had quit... Now they flew low above him. Karr had nowhere to go.

"One of us? I've got news for you Karr... You're the high priced computer. I'm just a run away from the south." Eli pointed out flatly.

"Alright... Me then..." Karr stated, his scanners sweeping over the area. The jets abruptly dropped a little lower. They were just barely clearing the rooftops. Up ahead, an opening came into view along the wall. A very narrow one... Karr spotted it to...

"Hang on!" Karr yelled out, suddenly hitting the hand breaks and screaming 'round a corner. Eli screamed as the vehicle snatched its way down a side alley. It was almost to narrow for him, and for a few blessed moments they were jet free. That wasn't to last to long. The jets were back, in a few moments sweeping down over the buildings and opening fire, though the narrow alley proved a disadvantage. Trash cans and boxes flew over Karr's hood as he hit them, one cracking the windshield so hard Eli was afraid for a moment it was going to come through. It didn't... It would be only a few moments before they burst onto a busy street, the jets hanging low overhead as they shot across the road.

Horns blared, more than one yell of indignation coming from drivers and pedestrians as Karr cut off traffic to make it to an on ramp onto the interstate.

"Where are you going? There won't be anywhere to hide there!" Eli pointed out, as the Trans-am squealed his way 'round the sharp turn.

"No, but I'm willing to bet there will be more vehicles than you can count this time of day." Karr pointed out simply as he roared up the ramp and onto the overpass interstate that seemed to reside several feet above the rest of the city.

Unfortunately that statement proved to be very correct... Eli screamed as Karr exploded out onto the interstate, his fender inches away from clipping a mini van. The driver of the van slammed on her breaks, more than likely some fairly fowl language floating from inside the soccer mom style vehicle.

One of the jets cut down close to the ground, just missing the tops of the electrical poles in an attempt to keep the black sports car in sight. Cars scrambled out of the way, swerving and quite a few crashing into one another as the black Trans-am picked up speed. Up above Starscream banked hard to the right as Skywarp came up the middle, Thundercracker having to bank hard and briefly swoop beneath the power lines as he attempted to avoid a news helicopter in his way. Within' moments the three had regrouped and were coming on hard, circling their prey from above as they rethought their little plan.

If they shot into the group of vehicles there would be a panic and then they really would loose the Trans-am. As it was they were just barely keeping up with where he was in the sea of cars and trucks.

As the rush hour approached, the congestion of vehicles backed up along the interstate thickened, the sea of vehicles becoming a mix of steel and toxic fumes.

"We're not losing them!" Eli yelled out, gaining an irritated grunt from Karr.

"I noticed... I'm open to suggestions..."

"There!"

Karr didn't need to be told twice. As Eli pointed out of the window he instantly changed lanes and shot down the exit that had been pointed out to him. They were pulling into an industrial zone. An underpass curved it's way beneath the upper interstates down, construction surrounding the half built 'tunnel' like highway. It looked as if at one point it would be an underpass with storefronts on either side. However now it was simply a mess and a way for through traffic to cut.

However, despite its flaws it did one thing for them. Karr was entirely under cover. "Where are they?" Eli questioned over the dim roar that sounded as jets kept up just above the 'rooftop' highway above them.

"I don't know exactly... There's iron everywhere. I can't scan for them."

"So if you can't scan out..." Eli reasoned, her gaze locked on the darkened bridges up above.

"They can't scan in..." Karr reasoned and suddenly swerved, just barely clipping a utility truck as he pulled a U-turn and headed back the other way. Slowly the sounds of the jets died down as the three planes went on... Karr took the moment to duck into the construction zone, disappearing among half finished buildings.

"I think we might have a problem..." Eli muttered softly, gaining a soft grunt from Karr.

"Ya think?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"He did what?"

The room that had once been the bridge of the Ark went dead silent at the sound of Bonnie's indignant yell. The source was already obvious as Jass quickly backed off a bit from where he and Michael had been quietly talking to the woman.

Already the reason was absolutely known. Her gaze had swept 'round, first finding Kitt and giving him a somewhat sad look, then leveling on non other than Brawn. He received only the look of death.

From behind the unfortunate Autobot who had earned Bonnie's wrath a soft snicker went up, as Cliffjumper quickly ducked his head to hide his amusement in his team mate's current fate.

"I assure you Ms. Barstow the problem has been taken care of." Jazz threw in, attempting to at least smooth things out between Autobot and human. That rumor had been flying around the Ark so much that they had felt it necessary to inform Bonnie and Devon of the event before they overheard a much more dramatic version whispered between warriors. At least the hope had been to smooth it over just a bit. It didn't look as if that was going to be the way this was going.

"Oh? I think our ideas of a problem having been taken care of differ just a bit. I see him still able to move around with some ease therefore I do not consider it taken care of."

"Bonnie!" Devon shook his head with a tired sounding sigh, as the furious woman turned her gaze onto him. "It was a cultural misunderstanding. We can not change the opinion of an entire race just because we wish it. We'll take care of Kitt's views when we get back and see if we can't get him to open up just a bit but right now we have other matters to attend to. Kitt took care of himself in the matter. Let it go."

"Bet Devon... Everything we go through to give the vehicles equal rights... For God's sake Kitt was entirely-"

"Bonnie! Enough." Devon stated flatly, shaking his head. "We'll discuss it with Kitt later. Right now we have other things to worry about."

"Devon" Kitt's voice cut through the air though for the moment it was waved off by Devon, a hand waving at the Trans-am as he continued on.

"I regret that this has happened but Michael has said that Kitt handled himself remarkably." Devon continued.

"Mrs. Barstow I assure you we mean no harm to any of your vehicles. While some of our troops are having a little trouble accepting this, we're not entirely close minded." Jazz pointed out, silently stepping aside as Prowl came up beside him.

"Devon"

"Not now Kitt. Jazz I understand that, as does Bonnie. You simply have to understand that Kitt to us is a miracle in himself. Let alone the fact that we've managed to create other vehicles who share his unique... life, though can never share that unique charm that is Kitt. We are a bit protective over him.

"As well you should be." Prowl put in, a slow nod given. "Pardon me for interrupting you Devon. Our resident Earth experts have just arrived."

"Devon" There was just a bit of insistence to his voice now.

"Kitt not now" Devon snapped before his full attention was turned back to Prowl. "Oh? The Earth Ambassadors I presume?"

"Yes. We've known Spike and his father since Spike was a teenager. His wife Carley we've known almost just as long. They've been looking forward to meeting you all."

"Devon you really should take a look at this."

"Kitt that's enough!" Devon snapped once more before his attention turned back to Prowl. "Of course. Furthering the politic portion of the Knight Program is of course important to us, you understand."

"Of course Mr. Miles."

"Devon!"

Devon heaved a sigh and spun around to fully face the Trans-am, one eye quirked in question as he leaned on his cane. "What is it Kitt?"

"Prowl, Decepticon activity over L.A.!" Kitt was cut off by the call from behind him, as Bluestreak brought up a view on the skyspy on Teletran-1.

"What he said." Kitt stated smugly, his frame tilting just a bit in that somewhat 'I told ya so' manner he could sometimes pick up. "I have something you should see."

"Pipe it through to Teletran's monitors." The order came from Prime's rumbling voice, the footage from the sky spy flowing across the screen. It was poor, through the heavy smog that covered the city, the brief shapes of three jets seen buzzing the speedways.

There was a long pause as Kitt fell silent, his communications turning entirely internally as he briefly spoke to Teletran and gained access. The screen went dark for a moment, as the uplink was made, the screen then flaring to life with what looked like something from the afternoon news.

A blond anchor woman was going on about the stocks and how they were suddenly rising and a pretty good time to invest. She then smiled and stated that she was turning over to a traffic report. Sure enough a moment later the screen switched to an over view of the city, and specifically the interstate as the reporter inside raised his voice to attempt to be heard over the helicopter. Still subtitles popped up on the screen to clarify what he was saying, his voice almost lost in the din.

For several moments he went on about how traffic was running smoothly and for oncoming rush hour it looked as if traffic would run through steadily rather than the normal bumper to bumper stand still.

Down on the interstate there was a brief commotion, several accidents happening at once, so quickly it was hard to see just what had caused it. It seemed it was over before it really started. The reporter focused for a brief moment on the accidents that had just happened though that seemed lost in the next events. The camera tilted wildly as the helicopter was forced to bank, something massive and dark sweeping by just inches from the bottom of the 'copter.

The newscast was forced to bleep a curse from the reporter as the 'copter pitched to the left and right for a moment until it righted itself. When the footage was finely steady again the reporter let out a nervous laugh and commented on how the military must be in quite a hurry.

"Kitt what was that all about?" Michael questioned slowly, not entirely sure what they had just seen.

"I can amplify the footage if you like." He offered with that smug little 'I can do this' chirp that he seemed to be currently thriving in.

"Do it." Devon stated with a slow nod, looking just a little uneasy.

Instantly the footage backed up to the point just before the 'copter had pitched to the side and slowed down the footage. Slowly the massive shape worked its way back into the screen where Kitt then stopped the image. Blurred to absolute distortion it was almost impossible to tell through the blur of motion what it was.

"Kitt can you clean that up a little?" Devon questioned, gaining a slight chirp from Kitt.

"Of course Devon." In a few moments the image became just a bit sharper as Kitt ran it through a few filters. It was now obvious that the object was blue. A few more filters and it was starting to become a bit more detailed.

"Isn't that a plane?" Bonnie questioned, gaining a slight nod from Devon. "I think so..."

Slowly it started coming into more and more focus until Kitt seemed to sigh softly. "That's as sharp as I can get it through the motion blurr."

It was certainly good enough... Through the blur they could make out the canopy of a jet and something rather chilling. A Decepticon symbol.

"That's Thundercracker!" Bumblebee exclaimed from somewhere behind them, gaining a slow nod from Prime. "Indeed it is... That must be what the sky spy picked up."

"There's more." Kitt announced and once more rewound the footage this time to the point just before the accidents. Again he slowed down the footage considerably. Slowly traffic moved across the screen until random cars began to swerve.

There Kitt stopped and enlarged a single point in the image. Twice more until a black Trans-am began to come into view. Finely he stopped zooming in, the screen filled with what looked like a sky view of a black over white Trans-am.

"Karr..." Devon muttered softly. "They were after Karr."

"I'm afraid so." Kitt admitted softly.

"Then they could already have him." Prime reasoned thoughtfully, his gaze locked on the screen.

"Actually, he could very well still be on the run. According to your sky spy the Decepticons are still circling. Which leads me to believe they do not have him yet. Therefore Karr could have very well escaped into the chaos of this traffic accident."

"Which he caused." Prowl added, causing Kitt to flinch just a bit.

"Well would you have preferred he surrendered himself willingly?"

Devon cut Kitt a somewhat odd look to which Kitt sputtered just a bit. "That would make our task of bringing him in just a bit more difficult don't you think?"

"He's got a point Prowler. Our focus is gonna be gettin' that car out of there." Jazz pointed out happily. Kitt remained silent, not sure if he wanted to remain irritated with the sports car or thank him for his help.

"Very true Jazz... Jazz I want you to collect a group together and go to Los Angelus. The Knight operatives will need help if the Decepticons are already involved." Prime ordered, gaining a quick salute form Jazz.

"Right on chief!" Jazz announced and spun around, heading out the door to gather his unfortunate victims.

"Kitt, radio Dante and let him know help is on the way. Make sure he knows how to contact Jazz so they can meet in L.A. without an issue." Devon ordered, causing Kitt to fall silent again as he connected directly to Dante.

"Kyle's not going to like this." Bonnie mused, though Devon only shot her a somewhat flat look.

"Kyle can deal with it."

"I don't get it..." Bluestreak muttered, his gaze entirely confused as he stared at the screen. "Why go to all this trouble to force two AI's into the Decepticons... What could they possibly gain from this?"

"Quick soldiers." Bonnie muttered, a shrug given. She had the entire attention of the bridge at that point, silence echoing through the grand cavern like room.

"I beg your pardon?" Prowl questioned slowly, gaining a shrug from Bonnie.

"You know I'm the first person to defend Kitt. However, even I know that Kitt's components are nothing compared to what I'm sure is Autobot or Decepticon components. Yet we created an AI that feels and thinks and reasons. All qualities of a soldier. You can not put a soldier on the field that isn't able to feel the impact of war. I'm betting whoever is in charge of that group knows that whatever technology that we used he can very easily replicate if he knew how it worked and what we did."

"So if he gets his hands on one... He can very easily create more." Prowl finished.

"To his specifications." Bonnie added.

"Which is vastly more efficient than trying to build more troops and bring life to them without a Matrix. They would be quick to build and in his opinion disposable since they were not created through the matrix." Prowl then added his attention turning for a moment specifically to Prime.

"With that in mind, I'm betting that he would want one... Kro... Who he could watch as a soldier. A unit on the field. He could watch and see if he even wants these AI's to be in his army. To see how they react and just how alive they are. Then he'll want another... Karr... To dissect and see what makes him tick."

"There is no way in hell that's happening!"

Bonnie gave a startled jump at the outburst, attention of the room slowly turning to Kitt.

"Karr may have his flaws but he is a Knight Industries vehicle and my prototype. I will remove him from the equation myself before allowing him to be dissected like some high school anatomy project. Devon this is absolutely-"

"Kitt enough!" Devon snapped, a heavy sigh given as he put a hand to his forehead. "Of course we're not going to allow them to get a hold of Karr. Do you realize the repercussions of that? What's gotten into you?"

Realization slowly crossed Bonnie's features, the woman paling just a bit even as Devon scolded the car for his outburst. "Kitt go to the semi and wait for me there."

"But Bonnie I-"

"That is a direct order Kitt. By the boundaries of your programing you can not disobey. Go to the semi. Park in the semi. Wait for me to come and get you. Do you understand?" Bonnie asked, her voice just a bit chilled while regarding the Trans-am at the.

Kitt gained an equally chilled attitude as he revved his engine and shifted into gear. "Yes Dr. Barstow. The Knight Industries Two Thousand understands and it will obey." Kitt snipped as he pulled out of his parking spot and out of the comm room.

"Doctor Barstow was that entirely necessary?" Prime questioned slowly, sounding just a bit stunned. In fact a pin could have dropped and be heard in the silence of the comm room at the moment.

"I hope not... If it wasn't I'll apologize to him later." Bonnie muttered as her gaze turned to Devon. "How did Karr wind up in that warehouse?"

He turned a few shades paler as the question turned over in his mind, the realization of what Bonnie was implying turning over in his head. "Do you think he would have..."

"If he did the board won't hesitate to shut him down." Michael put in worriedly. "But... That's not possible. He hates Karr. He wouldn't have..."

Devon held up a hand and shook his head, silently gesturing to the massive doors that lead the way into the ark. Michael and Bonnie took the hint as they quietly followed their boss out of the comm room and to the relative quiet outside, their voices dropping down low. For their basic respect no Autobot followed for this very private conversations.

"Michael Kitt is very passionate about the safety of the other AI's... I've also heard him refer to Karr as his brother. Who knows how far he would go... He's evolving faster than his basic programing to keep up. I think he's evolving past the need for it..." Bonnie pointed out her voice dropping just a bit.

"Yeah but... He's never disobeyed us before. Not on that level. Still this is Kitt we're talking about. It's not as if he's a threat to any of us." Michael argued, just a bit stunned. If he was arguing the point with anyone other than Bonnie it wouldn't have surprised him to this extent. As it was, his face was twisted in that look of complete puzzlement.

"The board won't see it that way. Do you remember what happened the last time an AI disobeyed an order?" Devon added to the conversation a somewhat morbid and forbidding look crossing his ageing features.

"That was different! That AI went absolutely haywire." Michael protested. "All Kitt's supposedly done is have-"

"An AI that has previously gone haywire as you put it placed back into a physical body. Michael if the board finds out they will use a military defense strike." Devon pointed out, gaining a slow nod of agreement from Bonnie.

"So it's settled then... We never speak of this conversation again and no one ever finds out. We just have to set things right with Kitt... Make sure he understands why the hell we have to do what we have to do." Michael stated with a decisive nod.

Devon gave a somewhat exasperated look but likewise nodded his agreement, the gaze of both Michael and Devon turning to Bonnie.

"Men are cowards when it comes to this." She growled out and spun on a hell, storming off towards where the Semi sat quietly parked beneath the wing of Sky One.

Devon sighed and shook his head, silently motioning Michael back into the comm room. The steady drum of sound was back. Clangs of foot fall rang out as Autobots went about their business. Some stood at computer consuls while others had their attention riveted onto dada pads, most of the information streaming in focusing around the three Decepticon jets hovering around LA.

"Mr. Miles is everything alright?" The attention of the two men turned to Prowl who still stood where he had been moments ago. A little ways behind him Prime had his attention fully on a data pad in his hands, though seemed to be halfway listening to Iron Hide, apparently discussing whatever information was on said datapad.

"Yes, just a bit of a family tiff you could say. Kitt is not happy with the way things are going. Understandable of course..." Devon offered softly, pulling a slow nod from Prowl.

"Of course... Is there anything we can do?"

"I'm afraid not Prowl. We certainly do not want to drag you all into our current little dilemmas." Devon explained, his voice trailing off as a soft footfall began to echo through the corridor. Bonnie hurried down the hall a somewhat husseled gait that suggested she was attempting to retain a face of calm when she dearly wanted to panic. She shot Prowl a smile as she stopped near Devon, leaning in to softly whisper to the old man.

"Kitt's not in the semi."

Devon's face pinched in confusion, a brow arching as he turned that information over. "Well maybe he went to Sky one."

Bonnie gave him a flat look and shook her head. "First off he wouldn't willingly get on that plane. Second I already checked. He's not there."

"Well have one of the cars track him."

"Tried it. Domino and Plato both refused. Kat says he's moved beyond her scanning range."

"What does that mean to you?" Prowl asked, startling the three humans.

Bonnie sighed heavily and shook her head. "It means he's left the compound."

Prime's conversation with Iron Hide stopped as he glanced up, his gaze narrowing just a bit. "Now is not the time to panic yet Doctor Barstow. Prowl have Teletran run a basic search for Kitt. If he's in the area we will find him before things go out of hand as the humans say."

Prowl nodded and silently moved away from the group as Iron Hide and Prime looked down to the three humans. "Has he behaved in this way before?" Prime questioned softly.

"No! I mean he's had his little irritable moments... Once several years back he even contracted a computer virus that changed his basic programing. The man who hacked the system ordered him to attack Michael. And of course he's subject to his own fowl moods... But even when he's in the worst mood he's easy to work with. And he's never directly disobeyed like this before..."

"Could it be another attack if a hacking program changed his personality before?" Prime questioned, though drew a shake of Bonnie's head.

"No... I've been talking to him for the past few hours. He's been entirely stable..."

"Prime. Teletran must be malfunctioning. He's refusing to track Kitt." Prowl called from across the Comm room, a worried look crossing his normally neutral features.

Bonnie sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "Doubtful... Kitt has a way with computers..."

"You think he may have hacked into the system?" Prime questioned, though Bonnie only shook her head again.

"I'm willing to guess that your computer is about on the advancement level as Kitt. Kitt mentioned a basic level friendship with someone called Teletran..."

"In other words they're in cahoots..." Ironhide clarified gaining a nod from Bonnie.

"He won't track him now... But I can see a log out where Teletran opened the front gates... That was for Jazz's group... Then the gates opened again but there's no reading as to who has exited. Therefore I am willing to hazard a guess that the gate opened for Kitt approximately fifteen minutes ago." Prowl reported solumnly.

"Then he can not have gotten far. Have the Arielbots run a perimeter search for Kitt and bring him back to base." Prime ordered, his attention then turning back to Devon. "We will do anything we can to help Devon." Prime promised with a solemn nod of his own.

"Thank you Prime. You understand we can not let this information leak out..."

"Of course Mr. Miles."

The ageing man smiled and nodded. "See Bonnie? Everything will be fine."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We should move on Karr. I really think we should."

"Eli... You were all for standing our ground before. Were you not the one who thought the car chase was neat?" Karr pointed out, his voice soft as they hid among the twisted forms of half constructed buildings. Above them they could hear the heavy roar jet engines swooping in low every now and again.

"That was when you were out running an SUV. That was neat! Karr... Those were jets... Alien jets... Alien jets with lasers..."

Karr sighed softly as if a bit exasperated and dipped down low on his shocks. "We can't move on. The city is essentially situated on a dessert. The surrounding area is baron. The only reason we got away this time is that we hid in this construction. There will be no where to hide in the dessert. Besides that, it wasn't lasers. It was high powered plasma blasts"

"Oh I feel so much better..." Eli sighed and thumped back into the seat, moodily staring out through the windshield at the shadowy construction site. "So what are we gonna do now?"

"I suggest waiting it out for now. They will leave us be in time. It will be safer to remain hidden rather than attempt another run for it and draw attention to ourselves."

"If you say so Karr..." Eli muttered softly. They sat in silence for a few more moments, the young girl quietly staring out the windshield, a puzzled expression etched across her face. "Hey Karr, if their alien robots can't they scan for us or something?"

"This is a very industrialized area. There is a high presence of iron which would throw off most scans. Though aside from that once upon a time I would have stood out very strongly in this area. However, now standard electronic equipment throws off a strong enough signal that it actually drowns out my own."

"Oh... So they can't see you through all the other high tech stuff?"

"That's about it Eli." Karr admitted, his engine roaring to life again. "They have moved on. It is safe to leave this area." He announced quickly pulling out into fading light. The mid morning sun was starting to leave the sky for as long as they had sat parked in that construction site. By now the sounds of jet engines had finely faded back, leaving only the roar of the vehicles on the highway. As night began to fall Karr pulled off onto an on ramp and back onto the interstate. A sea of headlights pierced the falling darkness.

"Karr I'm hungry. I kinda need to get out for a while." Eli muttered softly.

"We will find a truck stop then." Karr reasoned, pulling a quiet nod from Eli.

"Hey Karr?"

"Yes Eli?"

"What will they do to you if they find you?" She asked softly, attention trained out the driver's side window as Karr drove into the night.

"I imagine if the Knight Foundation finds me I will be shut down. However, if those... Aliens... Find me I can not begin to guess what would happen. Perhaps the same."

"Then we shouldn't let them find you." Eli muttered softly.

Karr could only offer his relatively soft agreement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dawn was just touching the city streets as a silver colored SUV pulled into a delapatated old warehouse, followed closely by a pitch black Ford F-150. It was a bit surreal pulling in as they were, the golden light of sunrise reflecting and bouncing across the clean glass of the skyscrapers not but a few blocks away from themselves.

"There are tire tracks..." The soft British tones echoed through the warehouse as Kyle Stewart slowly opened the door of the SUV and stepped out into the cool morning air. "The signal triangulation has proven accurate."

"Well that's great." The slow southern draw responded with sarcasm dripping from every syllable as Duke DePalmer exited the vehicle and picked up the task of exploring the building with the other man. "But is he still here now?"

"No Beast." Came the soft response. "The data obtained from the Sky Spy was enough to triangulate the position while Karr was still transmitting. He was here several hours ago. The trail is obviously cold. If you would take the time to do a bit of actual surveillance rather than assume whatever comes easiest you might know that."

The high pitched whine, classic of the sound of Attack Beast's weaponry gearing to life sounded through the otherwise relative silence of the warehouse. "Now hold on just a dang second there you stuffy excuse for a-"

"Alright you two that's enough!" Kyle's voice echoing through the warehouse silenced both vehicles. "Dante stop insulting Beast, Beast stop threatening Dante." The blond man added as he turned back to the task at hand, his gaze slowly sweeping across the concrete floor of the warehouse. "Dante what can you tell me about this?"

"Not much I'm afraid Kyle. Just as I told Beast. The tire tracks are obviously Karr's. They are roughly the size and weight that would be needed to uphold a vehicle of Karr's size and weight aside from the fact that they uphold traces of the alloy used to strengthen Knight Industries tires. I am not sure of the rest of his frame but the tires obviously came from Kitt's stock. If I didn't know Kitt wasn't in LA I would swear it was from him. Though again this will not do us much good. The trail is hours old at the very least. Karr was here. However, he has not passed this way in a rather long time." Dante rattled off, the soft beep of scans being run sounding off from his frame.

"In other words the car skipped." Beast clarified.

"Thanks Beast." Duke commented with a soft chuckle, a smile crossing his face. Kyle only rolled his eyes in response, his attention turning back to the task at hand.

"Any idea of where he might have been headed?" Kyle questioned, pointedly ignoring a snickering Duke and a glowering Dante.

"Yes... The trail heads North East towards the down town area. However, coupled with the multitude of traffic that has passed by the way Karr has gone his tracks will be impossible to follow."

"In other words, not a clue." Beast again clarified, this time gaining his own little glare from the uptight SUV.

"Yes that is the run down of it." Dante admitted, his attention slowly turning away from his vehicular partner.

"Alright then, no sense in hanging around here when there's nothing to find... We need to get to the meeting point and meet up with the Autobots. They should be just coming up on the city if they have any kind of speed on them."

"Moreso than we have Kyle... I suggest we leave now if we want to meet them on our own terms." Kyle Dante suggested, gaining a slight nod from Kyle.

"Alright then let's head out. Saddle up, move um out." Kyle called over to Duke, a hand lifted into the air and spun around in a vague circle as he headed back to Dante. Duke only laughed at his partner and friend and shook his head.

"You're getting a little to into that." Duke decided with a slight nod, a stretch given as he climbed his way up into his own vehicle.

The only response was a smirk shot his way from Kyle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Despite the theory of speed, the sun was just creeping into the sky towards high noon when a line of vehicles made their way into the city, entirely blending into the surrounding area. Four high performance sports cars which in any other area of the world would have been viewed as a rather strange sight. In the suburbs of L.A. it was hardly a strange thing. The Porsche in the lead changed lanes to the outside lane, turning signal firing to life as he Jazz headed down the off ramp a Datsun and two Lamborghinis following close behind.

The off ramp brought them into the business district of town, towering buildings with windows mirroring the midday sun surrounding them from all sides. "Hey Jazz where are we supposed to meet them?"

Smokescreen pulled up beside their temporary team leader as he spoke, the four lane city streets allowing them for the moment to ride side by side as they moved through the city. "At a truck stop just a few blocks away. The Sky Spy reported off that this area is where the Decepticons were circling last night. Dante says they've found traces of where Karr had been in a five mile radius of there."

"Why's he hanging around the same area?" Sideswipe pulled up close behind Jazz as he spoke, pulling a shrug like gesture from the sports car as he dipped down briefly on his shocks. "My guess is they don't have anywhere else to go. Sort of like keeping a basic territorial upkeep ya know?" Jazz reasoned.

"My guess is that they are attempting to obtain a high ground. Sort of a home ground that they are familiar with. If something like the Decepticons were after me I would be doing very much the same." Smokescreen put in, speeding up a bit as they came to an intersection to slip into the space in front of Jazz and allow a Cadillac coming up behind him to pass.

"Jazz, why are we even here? It seems to me this is a human problem." Sunstreaker reasoned, sounding rather board from his position behind his brother.

"It became our problem when the Decepticons got involved. Aside from that we have a responsibility to protect the human that is involved." Jazz responded, pausing long enough for the light to go through its cycle before pulling off again, turning down a side street towards the place they were suppose to meet up with the remaining Knight vehicles. A truck stop came into view just beneath the overpass of the interstate. Mostly eighteen wheelers pulling in and out as they would all through the night, quite a few of them, having pulled off to the side, their drivers sound asleep in the cab. It was strange to see so many of them pulled up alongside each other like that and not see them as living things. Very strange... When they had first landed Jazz himself had even attempted to speak to one. It was an honest mistake really... The thing had been an unmarked, red mack with a black trailer. What was he suppose to think? He had pulled up beside it and asked it a question, meant for Prime. It had been just his luck that Prime had actually been on the other side of the truck and heard the entire thing. His leader would still bring that up every now and again. Prime was just a bit notorious for refusing to let his friends live down certain things.

"That must be it." Jazz commented to the other three as they pulled up into the station, a basic scan run of the surrounding area. Near the entrance of the store two vehicles were parked side by side. A silver SUV and a black Ford F-150. With practiced ease, Jazz pulled into the space beside the SUV, the other three doing the same though they were forced to find spaces around the side of the building, Jazz having nabbed the last parking space infront. The sports car felt a light scan fall over him before the SUV spoke in a hushed tone, attempting not to alert those around him.

"I take it you're Jazz?"

"You would be correct. You're Dante then?" Jazz questioned just as softly.

"That would be right as well." Dante responded, falling silent for a brief moment. "Kyle is on his way out. The security cameras here caught a brief clip of Karr pulling up infront of the building earlier this morning. The clerk claims that the young girl came into the store, bought a few things and left. To much traffic has passed through here since then to be able to track him. We're hoping she may have said something to the clerk."

"Find anything then?" Jazz questioned, though it would only gain a soft sigh from Dante.

"Nothing I'm afraid. This trail is cold..."

Anything else Jazz would have said to that was cut off by the cheerful little ding of a bell sounding as Kyle pushed open the store doors, Duke following closely behind.

"Alright, the store clerk says that they pulled out and headed North. A trucker says that they passed him on the way out and headed back towards the old warehouse district." Kyle explained, pausing in mid stride to regard the Autobot symbol on Jazz's hood.

"Yes Kyle, the Autobots are here." Dante reported, gaining a slight nod from Kyle. "Good... You're Jazz I take it?"

"That's right." Jazz chirped, gaining a soft chuckle from Beast.

"Good... I take it Dante has brought you up to speed?"

"That's also right." Jazz chirped once again.

"See Beast?" Duke abruptly added in, a smile crawling its way across his features. "It is possible to give a simple answer and be pleasant while doing it."

"Bite me Duke." Beast snapped back, but the barest hint of a soft chuckle was hidden beneath the sharp tones.

"So why can't you just scan for Karr or whatever it is you do?" The question came from seemingly nowhere, causing Kyle to stand up a bit and glance around the corner. Passing pedestrians gave the bright yellow sports car a very wide birth as they went on about their business.

"That's Sunstreaker." Jazz explained with a soft chuckle. "Beside him, his brother Sideswipe. On the other side of him, the closest thing we have to a psychologist, Smokescreen."

"Nice to meet ya." Kyle muttered as he sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Anyway, when Karr was new we would have been able to. However, now as Dante explained to me, a cellular phone has more of an electronic output than Karr does. In the late seventies, early eighties that he was created he was at the top of his class. It was very easy to pick him out. Now his signal is very well hidden in all the electronics of the office buildings around us."

"We can catch a brief signal here and there. Which is why we know he is in fact in the area. However, it is not enough to pinpoint exactly where he is. The area also spreads out over several miles of the city. I am afraid it is a lot of ground to cover." Dante pointed out softly, pulling a slight nod from Kyle.

"That and his signal has changed a bit." Beast threw in. "He was only a few feet away from us earlier and we didn't know what we were looking at until he had already picked up on us. Even then it wasn't so much knowing what we were as just knowing that we were not normal vehicles."

"For once Beast is correct." Dante admitted a bit reluctantly. "Though that was well on the other side of town. My guess is that when he learned of what we were he relocated. Thus far we do not think he has strayed out of this general area."

"We scared him." Beast concluded.

"I don't know about that Beast. However, I do believe he saw it wise to relocate as quickly as possible."

"So in a nut shell he's in the area, we gotta find him." Sideswipe threw in, gaining a nod from the two humans. "So lets go find him already!"

Dante sighed and clicked his driver's side door open, allowing Kyle to climb inside. Beast did much the same, with a soft resounding click of his driver's side door. "Where are we headed then?" Questioned the SUV as Kyle and Duke settled into their vehicles.

"My guess would be warehouse district." Kyle muttered, gaining a soft grunt of agreement from Dante as his engine fired to life. The SUV pulled out of the truckstop, followed closely by a strange array. One truck and four high powered sports cars...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I am sorry Mr. Miles. All of our searches have come up empty. With Teletran's refusal to run an in depth search, I'm afraid we're having to rely entirely on the Arielbots. Their search has come up short." The tone was grip as Prowl gave his report, the Autobot strategist just about at his wits end. They had just received Jazz's team had met up with Dante and Beast. The search for Kitt had continued through most of the night by the human members of the Knight team. The Autobots had helped where they could. Hound and Trailbreaker had been sent out to attempt to track the missing Trans-am. It had been primarily the Arielbots that had been given the task of finding Kitt. However when the dawn came and went more Autobots were set to the task of finding the missing sports car. However, their search had come up empty.

"I'm afraid we just can't offer any more resources into finding Kitt with the Decepticons buzzing LA as they have been."

"We understand Prowl. Thank you for the help that you've offered thus far. Our vehicles onboard Skyone have finally become a bit more cooperative. I believe they are becoming just as worried for Kitt's well being. He has been out of contact all this time. They also understand that it more than likely does not matter to the Decepticons which Trans-am they pick up. We'll be continuing the search." Devon explained, a heavy sigh given as he glanced back to Bonnie and Michael. Michael's face was tight with worry, a deep set frown across his features. Bonnie simply had her face buried in her hands.

"I'm sure the Autobots will find them Mr. Miles. It will just take some time." Devon nodded slowly in Spike's direction, the Earth Ambassador having volunteered to remain with the three while the search went on for Kitt.

"Kitt's never done this before." Bonnie muttered from behind her hands. "He's disappeared on us before but he's never been gone all night and he's never ignored our calls for this long."

"I'm sure he's alright Bonnie. He's just being stubborn." Michel said, attempting to console his friend.

She only shook her head to that. "I shouldn't have spoken to him the way I did."

"Bonnie, Kitt is stronger than that. You know he is. I do not believe this has anything to do with that. Kitt is doing something that he feels needs to be done." Michael theorized.

"Weather or not he feels it needs to be done or not, if he doesn't turn up soon we are going to have to report to the foundation a possible problem." Devon muttered softly.

Bonnie snatched her head up, a somewhat panicked look given. "We can't! They'll bring in a military strike! Devon you know their already looking for an excuse..."

"I know Bonnie, but Kitt hasn't left us much of a choice. What if the Decepticons do get ahold of him? The vehicles out on the field need to know of the danger of a possibly reprogramed Kitt." Devon insisted. Bonnie only shook her head and quickly got up from where she had been sitting and hurried in the direction of the semi.

"Where's she goin'?" Spike questioned, gaining a shrug from Michael.

"My guess is to try and contact Kitt again."

"What exactly would they do to Kitt if your foundation had to be called in?" Spike questioned, somewhat warily at the prospect.

"More than likely deactivate him until a hearing can be held." Devon explained, gaining a somewhat choked off snort from Michael.

"Yeah right. Some hearing. They will hear us talking then decide that Kitt is guilty of all charges because he's a drain on the foundations funding and if he's going to cause problems then they will not put up with him being active anymore as they have so graciously done for the past few years." Michael muttered. "Not as if they've been helpful in the least. That car has needed upgrades for years now they they refuse to give him just because he has a little bit of age on him."

Devon could only nod his agreement, though he probably would have put it a bit more politically correct. "It has been a fight to keep Kitt from being shut down for the past few years. The foundation feels that Kitt is an unnecessary drain on funding."

"So they want to terminate his existence for it?" The unexpectedly booming voice caused them all to jump a bit. Prowl stepped back and gave a brief nod of greeting to his leader before heading off to get back to his own work. Prime's gaze was locked on Devon who could only nod to that.

"I'm afraid so. The foundation does not see Kitt as a living thing as we do. They see him as a very powerful tool and a very impressive weapon. Nothing more."

"That is not acceptable Mr. Miles." Prime stated simply, though it only gained a helpless shrug from Devon.

"Tell us something we don't know Prime." Michael pointed out.

Anything Prime might have said to that was abruptly cut off as the alarms of Teletran rang out. Jazz's face appeared on the screen, a smirk etched across his steel features. "We found him! We've found where Karr's holed up!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Karr what is this?"

"That's an old computer board." Karr called back across the warehouse to where Eli was poking around through old junk left behind by the previous owner. Once upon a time the warehouse had been a military bunker. It was probably a little bold though Karr felt they were safe enough. What he liked about the place was that it went down several hundred feet into what looked like an missile storage facility. What disturbed him a little was that there seemed to still be one or two explosive devices that still may be active. Though he figured if push came to shove the lower levels would be a very good place to hide. It also wasn't as if he could become trapped down there. He had already scanned for possible ways out. There were tunnels, traveling out to outter buildings. Escape tunnels for the military staff he imagined.

"What's this?"

"That is..." Karr paused for a moment, forced to run a scan of the odd contraption Eli had picked up. "Actually I'm not sure what that is. You might want to put it back." Eli made a face and put it down, slowly backing away from it. It looked like another computer board but this one was different and had odd little... Hand like contraptions sprouting from it.

"Karr how long are we going to stay here?" Eli asked, gaining a soft sigh from Karr.

"Until nightfall at least. This building I believe is very safe... Therefore I would suggest picking up some supplies tonight then coming back here to spend the day. If there is a problem we can move underground."

Eli made a face, the idea not entirely sitting well with her. She had done a lot of foolish things in her life... However, willingly going down into a warehouse that happened to also hold high explosives as Karr had put it wasn't one of them.

"It's perfectly safe Eli." Karr stated simply as if able to read her expression. "Unless you plan on picking up a bomb as you are doing with random computer boards now..."

Instantly Eli dropped the part in her hand as if it had bitten her and returned to Karr's side.

Karr chuckled softly to himself, though the low rumbling sound was abruptly cut off. He ran an in depth scan of the area, his engine instantly firing to life. There were other vehicles in the area...

"Eli. Come on quickly. We need to move."

She didn't need to be told twice. She instantly hopped into the driver's seat as Karr shifted into gear and rolled down the ramp he had found earlier into the darkness of the lower levels of the bunker. The only light offered was the light of his scanner, the car not needing his headlights to see. He could scan for the walls and electronically see where they were. However, the act certainly made Eli more than a little uncomfortable.

"Eli relax. We will be fine. I am certain they are only passing motorists."

Light abruptly flooded the warehouse above them, enough to briefly light up the passage way that Karr was moving down, causing the vehicle to speed up his pace a bit. "Passing motorists huh?" Eli questioned, gaining an irritated grunt like sound from Karr.

"At least two of those vehicles has a Knight Industry signature... The vehicles from before..." Karr muttered as he followed the passage into the open warehouse below. "The other two have signatures, simular however not identical to those of the jets."

"How did they find us?" Eli questioned.

Karr didn't have an answer for that. Could only keep silent as he ducked behind one of the many machines in the subterranean bunker and hope they would not explore any further.

That hope was short lived. Headlights pierced through the darkness of the tunnel they had come down and briefly lit up the underground bunker. Karr sank back into his hiding place a bit further, keeping to the darkness. Eli held her breath.

The wild hope that they would go away was equally short lived. The light was moving. Within' a few moments Dante's grill came into view, followed closely by what looked like that of a low set Porsche.

Karr's first instinct was to let his engine roar to life and get the hell out of there, but for the moment a calming hand settled on his dashboard kept him still. "Maybe they won't find us." Eli whispered softly to him. "No sense in telling him where you are if you don't have to yet."

Karr only grunted his soft agreement on the matter as his attention was locked on the two vehicles. They had split off to explore the room, Dante's headlights slowly sweeping from one side to the other. The passage was still lit, suggesting the other Knight vehicle and the other strange vehicle was up above. That way out was cut off. There was still another way... That wasn't exactly a threat unless the two vehicles in the room with them cut them off from both exits. That was a possibility to... The heat in Karr's cabin slowly rose as nerves began to get the better of him, his emotions expressed in the temp of the cabin. Eli swallowed hard through her own nerves and laid her hand on Karr's steering wheel.

They both jumped as a dim light abruptly filled the area. So dim that it just barely filled the cavernous space of the bunker. Emergency lights that had long since been turned off now hot wired to help the vehicles searching for them. A dim red tinted light that was enough to set up a mild outlined shadow of the surrounding equipment.

"Karr something's not right..." Eli muttered softly. Karr was hard pressed to agree. Jazz was still in sight. The Porsche was pacing back and forth, letting his headlights slowly sweep the area. Dante was nowhere to be seen.

"I think that one is an Autobot. He's an alien but I think he's the good guy alien or something of that nature..." Eli muttered. "I saw them on the news... I think the one that's always talking to the reporters is a Porsche like that... Human affairs or something like that..." Eli muttered, attempting to force her mind to remember the details. She had never paid that much attention. Now it was important. The jets were the bad guys... The cars were the good guys... Or was it the other way around? There were cars that were bad guys to wasn't there? There was also jets that were good guys? She was almost sure this one was one of the two that was always with the leader on the news... The other didn't say much but always had that very thoughtful look on his face... That one was a police officer... She was sure of it...

"It doesn't really matter Eli... You and I are in a space outside the definition of good guy and bad guy... To them we are the bad guys..." Karr pointed out softly. "Where is the SUV?"

Eli swallowed hard and slowly glanced around. Light abruptly lit up the area they were in as Eli swung her attention around. Karr's engine roared to life as he surged forward. Dante had come up directly behind them. Eli screamed and ducked down as the Trans-am surged his way through a stack of wooden crates and brought a few palates crashing down on the Porsche. "We gotta get out of here!" Eli yelled, a slight grunt of agreement pulled from Karr. He couldn't agree more...

He surged towards one of the exiting passage ways only to be forced to turn around as headlights shone down the tunnel. There was more of them! At least two! Headlights shone down each tunnel, blocking the way out. Karr whipped back around towards the missal storage system, and scooted beneath one of the massive rigs.

"Eli, there's a worker's tunnel here. This ladder will take you to the surface. Get out and hide behind that box. When I'm gone get up the ladder and out." Karr instructed firmly.

"I'm not leaving you here!" Eli complained, but Karr was hearing none of it. "Now Eli! I'll lead them away!"

Eli crossed her arms and refused to move in protest but it did her absolutely no good. The ejections seat fired to life and Eli found herself physically thrown from the vehicle as Karr tore off again, horn blaring. Eli stared after him, and quickly got to her feet again. She grabbed ahold of the ladder and hauled herself up, quickly climbing up through the worker's tunnel. About halfway up she paused and looked back at the commotion. Years before the tunnel had been enclosed. However, now there was an opening, just before the ladder disappeared into the ceiling which was actually the Earth, where it would go up another fifty feet or so. Karr had been true to his word. The other two vehicles were chasing him. From one side another was joining them. A massive black truck came in from the tunnel they had come down and parked at the mouth of it. Karr needed help...

With a heavy sigh, Eli quickly started back down the ladder. She had to help Karr. Wether he wanted it or not...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From afar a solid black Trans-am watched with quite a bit of dismay at what was going on. On one side he was rather proud of them. Dante had scanned the compound carefully. He had found the other exits and carefully cut them off with the troops he had available. Only then had he and Jazz moved in and after Karr. Kitt was proud of what Dante had become. He was doing it on his own to. That was even more to the point. Kyle had left Dante and gone with Sunstreaker to get a perspective from one of the exits. Likewise Duke had gone with Sideswipe he was covering the other exit. Kitt imagine that it was to spread out the operatives a bit who knew what they were dealing with and could give insightful information to the others who were going in blind. TKR had never come up against Karr but they had certainly had to read enough about him...

Beast and the one called Smokescreen was covering the final exit. That was mostly to both cover the exit and keep Smokescreen out of the sight. Allow Karr to think that there was less of a threat than there was.

On the flip side Kitt was worried. This was going off to well. If it kept up it was only a matter of time before Karr was caught. He was torn between what to do... On one side Karr was dangerous. He needed to be stopped. On the other side Karr was his brother. What right did he have to decide if he lived or died? Kitt wasn't about to harm his brother. On that same side he wanted to help Karr get away. However he also knew that action was not something that was the advisable thing to do...

A heavy sigh was pulled from the vehicle, however; it was rather short lived. His attention was pulled upward at the sound of a low roar. A jet was sweeping in low over the surrounding area. A little to low. Kitt tensed a bit as he ran a scan. It certainly wasn't from Earth...

The choice had just been taken away from Kitt. His engine roared to life and he surged forward into the building. He had to help them...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle gripped hard at the steering wheel as the ground beneath them suddenly seemed to rock and pitch as the facility they were under began to shake. "What was that?"

He demanded though instantly regretted it as the almost instant complaining began. He was use to Dante. He could bark out an order and know that Dante would never take it to heart, nor would be be particularly insulted by it. Dante could take a barked order, know it was the stress that made it barked and simply carry out what had been asked.

Sunstreaker was a different matter all together. Sunstreaker could take a simple, yet barked command and launch himself into a long and drawn out speech. The gist of the entire thing was that Kyle Stewart was in no way form or fashion Optimus Prime. It made any and all contact between them a chore and a half...

However, another rock of the ground beneath them was enough to cause Sunstreaker to cut it and abruptly hit reverse.

"Decepticons..." He muttered, a growled out aggravated edge to his voice. Without a second thought, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe pulled out into the field. They stopped a few hundred feet away from the compound, allowing for Kyle and Duke to get out before they themselves surged in again. The commotion was abrupt as an battle broke out. The compound shook and rocked on it's foundation. In all the commotion, a streak of black shot towards the compound and into the tunnel that Sunstreaker had abandoned. Fast and low to the ground, it went unnoticed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dust rained down from the upper levels as Eli ducked down behind part of what looked like an old tanker truck. Above her the aging support beams, that had gone years without proper care rattled and shook dangerously, casting a rain of dust and other grime from up above. She covered her mouth with a hand, and burning urge to cough.

The heavy thumps from outside made the entire compound rattle...

"Beast we have to get out of here!" Eli jumped just a bit as the loud voice sounded just on the other side of the rig she was hiding behind. So loud were the steady booms that she hadn't even heard the SUV pull up. Now it was speaking to the truck that had parked there a few moments before when it had come down to join the frey. She had thought for a time that there had been humans behind the wheel of the vehicles that had come down. That had quickly been proven wrong...

For some reason that frightened her. She knew Karr. He was a little strange but she knew him. He wouldn't hurt her. She knew that to. She wasn't sure about these... What if they assumed she was the enemy to? They might not have a care for a human life that hooked up with their enemy. For that matter what were they going to do to Karr? She couldn't let them hurt him. She felt alone... Entirely alone...

"We almost have him Dante! With the Decepticons above we can't afford to let him out of the area." The response was a slow southern draw, pleasing to the ears, contrast to Dante's pleasant but sharp British accent. The insane thought of why a car that was made in America would have an accent. However, a sudden explosion would send Eli flying back and the two vehicles scrambling for cover as a beam came down from the ceiling, crushing the rig Eli had been hiding behind. The thought was abruptly dropped...

The SUV and the truck quickly scrambled out of the way. Eli scurried back to hide behind an old forklift. The two vehicles never saw her as the surged out of the area, so focused on Karr they were not scanning for the possibility that she was there.

The compound rocked on its foundation once again, throwing Eli to the side with a soft 'oof'.

This time rocks rained down from the area, hitting the floor with steady pats, and sending up puffs of dust.

Out of the corner of her vision she spotted something low to the ground sweeping past, the breaks hit as soon as it came close to her. So covered in dust and dirt she couldn't tell what color it was, but it didn't matter. Her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of the familiar Trans-am.

"Karr!" She yelped out, quickly leaving her hiding place behind the forklift. Instantly Karr's door popped open, to allow her to hop in. She fully expected the silent treatment. She fully expected to be scolded for not following directions. She didn't care. She had never been so happy to see someone!

"Karr what's going on? There's things falling and explosions and I don't think they could cause all that so-" Her voice cut off as she looked around slowly. The seat was in the wrong place for one, though she had barely noticed it. Set for someone far taller than she was... The interior was different... Not as updated as Karr's... The digital displays were crimson rather than Karr's deep amber. An old duffle bag had been thrown in the back seat along with someone's leather jacket and from the rear view mirror a Saint Christopher's medallion spun from a silver chain.

"Are you alright young lady?" The voice wasn't Karr's. It was soft and almost sounded Boston. It certainly was not Karr's voice.

Eli screamed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From across the compound Karr just about froze in his tracks. He knew his brother as soon as he spotted the car. A mix of relief for seeing the one vehicle he did in fact know, and rage for seeing the vehicle at all, to flat out fear swelled through his CPU. He really didn't have time to worry about one vehicle now... With four vehicles in the bunker it was getting a little crowded and there were far less places to duck and dodge. He could have gone out true... However, at this point he was picking his poison and he knew it. He could either face off with the vehicles down below or move outside and face those jets... He could hear their engines roaring through the tunnel systems... Who knew what they wanted him for... At least he knew what the Knight vehicles wanted him for...

From across the compound he spotted Kitt screech to a sudden halt, his driver's side door popping open. From behind a forklift Eli shot out and leapt into the open door offered to her. Again rage... And something Karr couldn't describe. Couldn't relate to...

He quickly ducked through a narrow opening and surged in Kitt's direction. Eli was his driver! He was not going to take Eli away from him!

Kitt was fast to react, moving quickly out of the way of Karr's charge. He didn't have far to move. Another beam came down from the ceiling, cutting off Karr before he could ever get to the other Trans-am. The vehicle quickly backed up, and looked for another way, though it looked as if he was trapped.

Within' a moment three vehicles had hemmed him in. One he felt pretty certain he could take, if the make of the vehicle was anything to judge... However, two of them he knew he could not.

He was trapped...

A shriek of metal on metal sounded through the air as another beam came down. This one falling with a sickening crunch and a shriek of pain through the air. The pourshe briefly backed up, causing the truck to close in a bit more. Jazz... Eli had called that one Jazz. From the news...

Now he looked more than a little concerned. "Don't you move Karr." Beast growled out. The Trans-am could simply feel the rocket launcher pointed his way... He could also detect the call going out as Beast contacted his driver. Not his day...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eli screamed again as the beam came down, landing not but a few feet away from them. It had them cornered. Kitt couldn't move more than a few feet in any direction. Blocked off one way, by the walls in most others. It had been close... Though absolutely horrifying to both Eli and Kitt was the sight that lay before them.

Only moments ago Smokescreen had slipped from the tunnel leading down to report that the structure was unstable... Horribly ironic now... The beam had landed square across his roof. Glass and shards of metal had been thrown across Kitt's hood and tapped at the glass as the car could do nothing but stare on. The beam was massive. Even for an Autobot, all Smokescreen could do was spin his wheels helplessly and scramble for purchase.

Kitt flinched and pulled forward, his frame pressing against the beam as he made a feeble attempt to push it off the downed car. No good... The thing was impossibly heavy. Beast would have even had trouble with it. As it was, half damaged as he was Smokescreen was down for the count. Across the room Jazz left the two Knight vehicles to keep Karr pinned down while he transformed and hurried across the room. The response was instant from Karr. The Trans-am let out a yelp that was a mix of terror and indignation.

In several strides the Autobot had crossed the bunker, crouching down next to his fallen conrad. Massive metal hands grasped the fallen beam and lifted, the sound of screeching metal sounding off as the beam strained against the fallen ruble. "I can't lift it." Jazz said over the noise, letting it drop again, the Autobot pulling cool air through his intakes at a fast rate.

"You pull up and I'll pull back" Kitt called back to him, his grappling hook shooting out from beneath his hull.

"How did you get here?" Jazz questioned, though the answer didn't exactly seem entirely important to the Autobot.

"Drove. Long story." Kitt snapped back, his tires squealing as he abruptly pulled back. At the same time Jazz lifted what little he could of the beam. Between the two of them, the heavy iron beam slid off of Smokescreen's hood, trapping Kit further in the corner he had managed to wedge himself into.

A dull rumbling sound filled the air as chucks of rock rained down from the ceiling. Jazz ignored it for the moment, his interest set on checking on his friend as he knelt down on the ground, a hand settled on Smokescreen's hood.

From inside Kitt Eli silently stared out the windshield as rocks fell against Kitt's hood, pouncing off harmlessly.

"Roll down the window..." She finally muttered, a horrified look crossing her youthful features.

"Why young lady?" Was the almost instant question.

"Just... Roll down the window!"

With her voice more insistent, Kitt rolled the passenger's side window down a few inches allowing Eli to call out, her voice ringing out over the rumble.

"Hey! Hey you robot person!" Jazz instantly looked down, a bit surprised to see her there.

"Hey aren't you-"

"Not now! I think that was a support beam! We have to get out of here!"

"Ma'am we're tryin' to-"

"Don't try do! This place is gonna come down!" Eli yelled out the window but the point was rather moot at this point. Jazz was abruptly cut off as another beam swung down, this one clipping the side of his head. The Autobot staggered then instantly leapt forward half of his body across Smokescreen and the other half draped across Kitt. Kitt's window instantly rolled up as a rain of rubble came down on them, blackening the interior of Kitt as the dust cut out what little light there was.

Across the bunker Karr set back with a panicked yelp against the machinery. Beast and Dante surged forward, instinctively huddling together as the rubbled rained down on their hoods. That slight rain of rock and dust became a heavy downfall before the final supporting beam could take no more. It snapped in two with a deafening crack, the Earth it had been upholding collapsing into the cavernous space.

The emergency lights sparked then went out as the walls crumbled, earth and rock burying machines that had been there for years.

Up above the building that was the only visible part of the bunker seemed to sink in on itself as the walls slowly gave away. A cloud of dust billowed up from the ruins, covering the area and blinding the two remaining Autobots and hiding the bunker itself from view. Laser fire rained down on the area, the Decepticons managing to hit the bunker with multiple rounds, the pressure they had put on the beams below bringing the house down quite literally.

"Sideswipe! It's caving in!" Sunstreaker's voice rang out through the area as he fired off a shot. The blast hit Starscream's underbelly, the jet pitching to the left with a scream of rage.

"I can see that Bro." Sideswipe snapped back, his flares hitting Skywarp dead center on the right wing. The three jets banked hard, pitching to the right and preparing to come in for another sweep when a streak of laser fire shot through the sky.

The distress call had gone through. Two Arielbots swooped down low from the sky, opening fire once in range. Now outnumbered the seekers followed Starscream's guidance as they dropped down low out of the sky. The volley of fire continued for several more minutes before a full retreat was called by Starscream. The steady rumble caught Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's attention as they quickly transformed, their temporary human wards rushing in from where they had taken cover to rejoin their temporary vehicles. The bunker roof was collapsing. A few feet away the Arialbots touched down, still hyped from their extreamly brief fight.

However, the steady rumble was enough to cut through their attitudes.

The group watched in horror as the building slowly sank into the ground. It disappeared into the cavernous pit that was being formed.

"Dante come in." Kyle's voice rang on as he attempted to get ahold of Dante on his comlink.

After a moment it was followed by Duke's voice, calling for Attack Beast. Nothing from either vehicle. Their watches beeped a steady blank screen, the signal of a suddenly cut link.

"Yo Jazz. Smokescreen. Talk to me." Sideswipe's call into his radio went unanswered. Only silence rose up from the dust.

For a long moment they could do nothing but stare. Stare in shock and dismay as they looked at the massive pit. Somewhere under hundreds of feet of rock and dirt... Their team mates had been buried alive.

_To Be Continued..._

_Next time on Somewhere in the Knight..._

_The air is getting thinner._

_The dust has settled into a darkness no light can offer any comfort._

_It's getting harder to breath._

_Her only hope for survival is a badly damaged, possibly dying AI._

_Buried Alive..._

_(I don't normally do these but the next chapter is going to freak me out! Buried alive is the only think that actually tends to scare the living daylights out of me)_


	5. Buried Alive

Disclaimer: Transformers and all characters there of belong entirely to Hasbro. Knight Rider and all characters there of belong to Glenn Larson. Team Knight Rider belongs to Universal Studios. The song lyrics in this chapter belong to Bing Crosbey I think... Anyone wanna correct me on this one go ahead, I really don't know but that's what the net says. Elizabeth is mine. Note that all crossovers bring on the longest disclaimers in the history of fanfiction...

Notes: Alright just so we're clear on this. I have never been to L.A. I have never been any further west than one little trip to Texas actually. I have never been to that side of the country. Therefore if you live in L.A. and are goin'... Wha? Let me make it clear. I know nothing! And map quest sucks... Just so we all know, you learn nothing off of Map Quest. What I learned of L.A. I learned from watching reruns of Angel. Which is diddly! So is you live in L.A. and see something that makes you go eh? Do what any good transformers fan does when continuity is brought into play. Pretend it didn't happen. I will love you forever for it. Otherwise please enjoy the writing of my own personal hell... Closed in spaces not fun.

XXXXXXXXXXX

_Buried Alive_

"Autobot Sunstreaker calling Autobot base. Please respond."

The gargled transmission came in through Teletran one, out of habit the entire room falling to a low hum of mumbling rather than the loud chatter of only a few moments ago. From his current station, Bluestreak reached over and flipped the communication channels so that Sunstreaker's face filled the screen.

"Hey, what's up Sunstreaker?" The yellow warrior ignored Bluestreaks much to chipper tone and instead launched into an explanation of the current status.

"The Arielbots chased off the Decepticons a little while ago. However in the process the building we had surrounded has collapsed in on itself and therefore collapsed the storage facilities below it which was the true target."

Bluestreaker flinched just a bit at the hard stare he had gained from Sunstreaker and silently rolled his chair back as Optimus Prime replaced him at the board, his attention caught by the new status report.

"Sunstreaker what is the status of the others?"

Sunstreaker seemed to deflate just a bit, a frown crossing his face plate, as he nodded slowly. "The two Knight vehicles as well as Jazz and Smokescreen were down in the underground warehouse when the building collapsed. The Arielbots as well as Sideswipe have already begun to pull away rubble but it looks as if they are buried fairly deep."

"Very well Sunstreaker. We will send reinforcements to help in the process. In the meantime do as you can. What is the condition of the humans?"

At this Sunstreaker perked up just a bit, happy to at lest be able to deliver some smidgen of good news above the bad. "As far as we are able to determine no humans have been involved. Stewart and DePalmer were with us at the time of the collapse. They are safely away from the wreckage. As for the human hostage that was with Karr, Dante reported Karr stopping long enough to let her out. She thus escaped via an employee exit therefore to our knowledge has escaped."

Prime heaved a deep, electronic sigh and nodded. "At least there's some good news in that. Have the L.A.P.D. put out an Amber alert for the girl and see to it that the other human members of the team have what they need."

Sunstreaker only nodded and gave a quick salute as the transmission cut. As the screen went dark again, Bluestreak silently looked up at his commander.

"Somehow I don't think those Knight Industries people are going to like this."

Prime could only nod to that. "Somehow I think you may be correct."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Young lady are you alright?"

A soft groan was the response as Eli slowly picked herself up off the floorboards of Kitt's passenger side. Despite the fact they had been covered by Jazz the collapse had caused them to be knocked around quite a bit. In the almost pitch black surroundings it was almost impossible to see much of anything. Only the soft crimson glow of Kitt's voice modulator lit up the small area, causing a dim, red, flicker to display every once in a while.

"I think I hit my head..." She muttered softly as she pulled herself up into the passenger's seat, eyes closing against even that dim, red light. "What happened?"

"The bunker has collapsed."

"So we were buried?" Eli questioned, her eyes snapping open as she looked out the window. All she could see in the dim light was the briefest outline of rock and dirt just outside the windshield and driver's side window.

However the passenger's side window held a different story. Of course most of it was under dirt and rock, though through the dim light, she could just make out the twisted metal of something. It took her a few moments of letting her eyes adjust to see that it was the Autobot.

A dim Florissant glow was coming from parts of him casting him in an odd, soft pink color. She frowned softly and leaned in close to the passenger's side window and squinted her eyes. Only to jump back with a startled yelp as a pink fluid dripped down the window, leaving behind a glowing streak of fluid.

"Hey! I think that guy out there is hurt!"

Kitt sighed heavily, having been able to tell that much with what little of his scanning functions were retained. Jazz had covered them and saved them from the brunt of the impacting force. The only reason his outside shell was somewhat intact was because of Jazz taking the force of the blow. However, it also meant that Jazz wasn't in the greatest condition. From his weak scanning capabilities he already knew that the Autobot's injuries had been severe. He couldn't scan far enough to be able to determine the outcome of Smokescreen though from the knowledge of his previous injuries he could only imagine. "I know that young lady. Unfortunately there is little either you or I can do. I can not help him and it is way to dangerous out there for you. We will have to wait for help to arrive."

"What if it doesn't? And where's Karr? Is he alright?"

Kitt sighed heavily, unable to answer that. The truth was no one knew he was even there. Granted he was very close to an officer in the Autobot army so he would eventually be found. The true issue was that he needed to be found quickly. While the others would be alright for a while, his human passenger would not. He could only keep her alive with a steady air supply for six hours. After that, she would suffocate. As for Karr the other vehicles had been on the other side of the warehouse when it had started coming down. He couldn't give an answer as to the whereabouts of any of them. A fact which rather frightened him.

"I am sure Karr is fine miss. As for us, I am sure we will be fine as well. Let me worry about that."

Eli nodded slowly as she sank back into the seat, her gaze drifting to the voice box on the car. "So... My name is Elizabeth. Everyone calls me Eli." She finally muttered.

"Actually I already know this Eli. You have had many people looking for you, ever since we learned that Karr had you. You were in a considerable amount of danger wether you realized it or not. Many people have been worried about you." Kitt responded gently, gaining a puzzled look from Eli herself.

"Looking for me? But why?"

"Because Karr is a very dangerous vehicle." Kitt answered patiently but Eli quickly shook her head.

"No he's not. I've spent several days with him. He's a sweetheart." Eli stated flatly then narrowed an eye at the dashboard of the car.

"Who are you?"

"I am the Knight Industries Two Thousand. Kitt for easier reference."

Eli's eyes widened a bit as she stared at the dashboard, seemingly just a bit intimidated with this simple bit of information. "Karr told me a lot about you..."

"I'll bet he did. I promise I am not the monster he thinks I am. I had no choice in the events that transpired between Karr and myself."

Eli nodded slowly to that, watching the dashboard wearily. "He said he wished you would have given him a chance... That he wished you would have given him the chance to live. He didn't want to fight you."

"He said that?" Kitt whispered softly, gaining a slight nod from Eli.

"He did..."

Silence fell between the two as they both sat in the silent darkness. The silence was heavy and thick between them as Kitt thought, and Eli mulled over the connection between the two. It would be Eli's voice that broke the silence, a soft sigh released. "It's getting hot in here."

"I'm sorry Eli... There's nothing I can do about that. It would be better if you tried to sleep."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Beast?"

Silence... Nothing but silence. It had been that way for some time...

"Best please!"

"Wha-" The soft answer was slurred as Best slowly forced himself back online. He hurt... Everywhere... The top of his cab had been crushed in and he felt this horrible pressure in his engine, dangerously close to his CPU but at the moment couldn't scan to see the extent of the damages. However he could already venture a guess that it was severe... He could feel the crushed fender of a sports car against his own fender. He doubted Karr had held up even half as well as he himself had. At his side he could just barely feel the rounded fender of an SUV touching him. They had huddled together when the cave in started. Though from there had been horribly tossed around.

"Oh thank the programmers... I thought you may have been permanently off lined."

"Dant' is 'at 'orry I 'ear?"

"Beast?" Dante prodded, worry instantly leaping into his CPU. Beast's words were slurred and choppy. It sounded as if he was struggling to get them out. He could just barely understand them as 'Dante, is that worry I hear?'

"Beast can you run a diagnostics?"

"'o" Was the simple answer, which Dante translated into a no.

"Don't try to speak Beast... Can you connect through our link up system?"

The response was a burst of wild static through the link Dante shared with his team mates. The wild numbers and digits flew by at a flooding rate for a moment before Beast was able to pull back.

This didn't make any sense. Out of the five Attack Beast was built like a tank. He should have been able to stand up to this. Dante himself had been knocked around and his entire roof had been crushed into the point of breaching the space, glass littering his seats and dirt having halfway filled his cab. Though he had been rattled he didn't seem to be suffering nearly the damages that Beast was. His diagnostics were down... Though his scanners seemed to be up. He ran a weak scan over Attack Beast. It was a rapidly failing system but what he found made his oil run cold.

"Beast don't try to speak." Dante warned again.

"'at 'on wit' 'e?"

"The same thing that's wrong with me Beast. Hundreds of tons of rock and dirt just fell on us. Now stop trying to speak and save your energy. You're leaking fluids..." Dante scolded. There was something foreign running its way through Beast's hood. About the width of a large pipe that seemed to have speared through Beast's hood, the copper thing having broken off with a dagger like edge. It had been enough to punch right through. It had to be what was causing all the problems. Beast simply wasn't that bad off otherwise. The pipe must have hit something vital... This was something Dante felt Beast simply did not need to know...

"Beast... I'm going to try to get a signal out. Just try and off line or something for a while. Save your energy." Dante ordered, a weak radio signal shooting its way out and looking for someone to connect to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kitt what if no one comes?"

"They'll come." That had been the insistent answer the past half hour. In all honesty Kitt was worried. He had no idea how long these Autobots could survive down here. Possibly years until they were finally dug out. He knew the Knight Industries vehicles would be alright if this took a while. However, Eli could very well die in his front seat. He highly doubted anyone even knew they were there.

However, to ease Eli's mind he had down right lied to his own beliefs that rescue was an option.

"Kitt?"

"Yes Eli?" Kitt questioned with an electronic sigh, the sports car attempting to shift on his tires but the dirt and rock around him had him held tight.

"I think that Autobot is waking up."

Kitt snapped to attention, his full attention settling on the Autobot that was halfway sprawled across his hood. Indeed the optics that had moments ago been dark were now casting a dim blue light over the tiny pocket of space running between them.

"Jazz?" Kitt called, gaining a slight flicker of the light as Jazz seemed to blink.

"Jazz can you hear me?"

Soft electronic groan sounded as Jazz's cranium slowly turned in Kitt's direction. Kitt could have cried out with joy if the situation wasn't so serious. Finally, some form of a break... Carefully he sound proofed himself, making certain that the cabin would be free of his voice as he spoke to the Autobot.

"Jazz listen to me. Eli is in my cab. I only have a few hours that I'll be able to keep her alive and I doubt anyone even knows she's still down here. I need to get out a signal to someone. Is your radio online?"

Slowly Kitt felt movement against his hood as Jazz's arm moved, the dirt resettling itself as the Autobot struggled to move. It wasn't much movement. Only enough to bump the switch that would fire his radio to life. It was very short range.

However, it was enough. Dante's voice filled the air, calling over and over for Skyone to respond.

"Dante?" Kitt questioned, gaining a relieved sounding sigh from the SUV.

"Kitt! Oh thank Ford... Kitt listen to me. We've been-"

"Buried alive under hundreds of tones of rock and dirt? I know Dante... I'm down here to. You've reached short range."

There was a long pause and then... "You're not in Oregon?"

"No Dante I'm maybe a hundred feet away from you. But listen to me... I need you to keep trying to get a signal out. Don't limit yourself to Skyone. There has to be someone out there. Elizabeth is in my cab,"

"Oh my... Kitt how long can you keep her alive?"

"Not nearly long enough. Maybe a few more hours. More if I start cutting down her o2 intake... Though that's likely to cause other damages."

"Kitt I'm sorry... I thought she was free of the building." Dante insisted softly, sounding just a big ashamed of the entire situation.

"I know Dante, I know. It's not your fault. I didn't know myself until I nearly ran the poor child over. However, we need to let someone know she's down here. Alone I doubt they will make it in time for AI's." It was cold and hard but it was the truth. They all knew it. They would take their time up there if they thought that there was no human life in danger.

"I know Kitt... But Kitt, Beast has been damaged."

"How badly?" Instantly the parental worry leapt into Kitt's voice. Beast had grown into himself over the years. Had become the bad ass the foundation wanted him to be. Had become the muscle behind the operation.

However Kitt had another memory of the rough and tumble truck. The memory of a very shy AI only a few days online. An AI who had been afraid of his driver, craving the easy going partnership that was between Michael and Kitt. Life in the team had made him a bit hard.

Out of all of the team, Beast was closest to Kitt. Therefore the worry was instant. A parental kind of worry that was quickly bringing on panic.

"I believe a pipe has penetrated through his hood. His speech is slurred and he's leaking fluids."

"Can you tell what it's hit?"

"No... My sensors have been damaged as have many of his. I can only tell that it is there. It must have missed his CPU... He's still with me and online... I suggested that he shut down for a-"

"No!" Dante paused, startled by the sudden outburst, the SUV quietly waiting for Kitt to go on before saying anything more. "Keep him active and keep him talking. If it's cut some lines to his CPU he might not be able to come back online again if he shuts down. Try to keep him from panicking. If it's just cut his fuel lines he should be alright, but that doesn't account for the slurred speech... Can you see through a scan if the cables to the backup cell have been cut?"

"No, I can't see anything but the fact that it's there... However following the lines of where it's hit..." Dante paused for a few moments as he carefully attempted to calculate. When his voice touched the lines again it briefly wavered, for the first time the SUV actually sounding a bit nervous. "It's gone right through a bundle of sensors and fuel lines... However I believe most of the lines have held... The fluids that are leaking... I can't scan for exactly what they are but I believe the fluids to be a mixture of fuel and the fluid from our battery packs."

"Ok that's not good... See if he can block off the damaged cells. And for the sake of the creators do NOT try to start your engine. Keep trying to get a signal out. Maybe one of us will get lucky."

"Alright Kitt. I'll do what I can. Dante out."

Kitt sighed heavily and settled back as much as he could on his tires...Surrounded by dirt as he was it really wasn't much of an option to so much as move.

"Your friend alright?"

The very slow question caught Kitt just a bit off guard. Jazz was coming more and more online by the moment.

"Yes... We need to keep trying to get a signal out. Beast as well as Eli need to get out immediately."

"No prob, Kitt" Jazz muttered then paused for a moment as he shifted. The air pocket they were in seemed to hold, giving the half covered Autobot room to shift around, a pained groan released as he pulled himself around.

"Jazz what are you doing?"

Jazz didn't really answer as he slowly pulled as much of himself up as he could. A good tug of his foot brought down a mini cave in, dirt falling down around them, but other than that the surrounding area held. A beam above them, lodged between the wall and the remains of an old fork lift held a small roof over their hoods. Kitt was half buried, his tires completely covered up to the windows, his scanner hidden from view and his back end entirely encased in the dirt wall around them. It had been Jazz upholding his weight above them that had created the pocket at all. They were lucky for that.

"Smokescreen?" Silence greeted Jazz's tentative call.

Smokescreen! Kitt had almost forgotten about the damaged Autobot.

"Smokescreen buddy are you online?"

Still nothing. Though after several, long and tense moments a pained groan filled the air.

"Jazz?"

"Yeah Smokescreen it's me. How ya doin'?"

"I've been better..." Smokescreen muttered slowly. After a long pause of attempting to access his diagnostics he let out a low sigh.

"I'm getting warnings flashing at me across the board... And I can't see anything... What happened?"

"The warehouse caved in... Do you have a radio contact feed?"

There was a long pause before a soft 'no' was let out.

"It's alright Smokescreen. We're gonna get out of here... I just need to try and transform so I can get a stronger signal..." Jazz muttered.

"Jazz... Can you even accomplish that in here? Don't do something that's going to cause you more pain... Or another cave in." Kitt warned, but the only response he got was the wry smile Jazz weakly shot him.

"Don't worry Kitt. I think if I do this slowly enough we'll be fine."

Kitt didn't have any kind of a comment for that. Once Jazz had shifted himself into place without disturbing to much dirt he slowly began the transformation. It was slow and painful... It had to be. Dented parts popped and clicked as they were forced into place, dirt grinding into gears as Jazz folded in on himself. Dirt rained down again as he was more than once forced to push against the delicate sides of the pocket they were in. With a sharp yelp of pain Jazz landed on his tires, shuddering a bit as he attempted to drive out the mind numbing agony the transformation had brought on.

The once refined sports car was battered. The panels crushed in from the pounding they had taken. All four tires were flat, as well as the windows entirely shattered. The transformation did not go unpunished either. Kitt cringed as more rock and dirt came down on them, the beam that had been supporting the delicate ceiling above them slipping. It came down with a loud bang, catching the side of Jazz's roof, buckling it in and shattering the rest of his windshield, however on the other side it held, supported by the wall it was leaning against and saving Kitt from the same fate.

"Jazz..." Kitt growled out, torn between worry and irritation that he had tried such a thing.

"Sorry..." The Autobot muttered, a hint of pain to his voice as he attempted to shake of the sting the change as well as the beam had caused. "Smokescreen ya still with us?"

A weak and muffled "Yeah..." Came back, the crushed vehicle almost entirely covered from view now.

"Good... Good... Alright everybody... Hold onto your socks."

"What did he say?" Eli questioned from the safety of Kitt's cab.

"Something about Socks." Kitt muttered in response.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Prime! We've got an incoming transmission!"

Prime quickly hurried across the command room, praying for at lest some amount of good news. "Who is it Hound?"

Hound was silent for a moment, his attention trained on listening to what was coming through. "It's Kitt!"

From where she had been, leaning against a parked Dominio, running diagnostics on the Mustang, Bonnie leapt to her feet and hurried over. "Kitt?"

From the screen a very garbled voice came over the airways. "Bonnie? It's good to hear your voice Bonnie."

"Kitt you are grounded to the garage for a month when you get home!" Bonnie snapped, hands placed on her hips, worry fading to irritation now that she had heard the car's voice.

"I'll stay in there for a year... Bonnie listen to me-"

"Kitt get your fender home immediately. Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? Hell do you have any idea what's happened since you've been gone? There was a cave in-"

"I know that Bonnie now shut up and listen!"

The room fell entirely silent as Kitt's voice fluctuated on the monitors.

"I know about the cave in. I'm in the middle of it. I'm transmitting via Jazz's on board radio. The first one we were able to contact was Sunstreaker. It's through his transmission that I'm able to speak to you at all." Kitt stated simply, seeming to be gathering himself to launch into something else entirely.

"Karr's human passenger did not leave the complex. She's currently in my passenger compartment. I can keep her alive for six hours before suffocation is imminent. Jazz and Smokescreen are both badly damaged and leaking fluids. Smokescreen more so than Jazz though Jazz is suffering a loss of many key functions. It's taking more energy than it should to keep this transmission up, hence why it is now my voice instead of his that you are hearing. We have been in contact with Dante. Both Attack Beast and Karr are with him. Most of Dante's diagnostics and sensors have been knocked out but otherwise he is functional. Attack Beast has had a pipe penetrate through his hood and through several key sensor bundles in his engine compartment. According to Dante he is leaking fluid and his speech is very slurred. Dante is currently doing what he can to keep Attack Beast awake and online. The condition of Karr is unknown."

For a long moment the communications room remained entirely silent as that information sunk in. Finally it would be Bonnie that broke the silence.

"Kitt where are you located in the building?"

"I am just south of the main entrance. Beast and Dante cornered Karr towards the center of the complex. Approximately one hundred feet away from us."

"Thank you Kitt..." Bonnie muttered softly, the room falling back to silence.

"Bonnie? I am sorry I left. I had no choice but to do this."

"I know Kitt... I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"Kitt?" Optimus Prime's voice interrupted the rather touching reunion, pulling the Trans-am's full attention to the current situation.

"We are going to do everything possible to get everyone out of there and to safety. Rest assured that-"

"I know, I know. We'll be alright. I will try to keep the young lady from panicking. Just get us out of here." Kitt stated simply, a heavy electronic sigh coming from over the air waves. "I'm draining to much power off of Jazz's radios... Is there anything I have missed?"

"No Kitt." Prime responded softly. "You've done well."

"Thank you Prime. Kitt out." With that the transmission ended from Kitt's end, Sunstreaker's face abruptly filling the screen as his connection remained without the line he had been piping through. "You get all that Prime?"

"Yes Sunstreaker. I am sending reinforcements to your location. Skyfire should be taking off momentarily." Prime stated simply and switched off the uplink.

"Prowl, gather a team. We leave immediately." Prowl only nodded, wasting no time as he abruptly took of.

His attention then turned to Bonnie who would only give a quick nod. "Some of your troops can ride in Sky One if it will help Prime... We will have Sky One air born as soon as Skyfire is ready."

"Thank you Bonnie. That will help."

She nodded a bit as she turned on a heel, hurrying off towards Domino to get the Mustang ready to board, however paused at Prime's voice.

"Doctor Barstow, I was under the impression that you wished to avoid flying."

"For Kitt I fly" She called over her shoulder, quickly closing Domino's hood. "Have you seen Michael?"

"He was with Ambassador Whitwicky a few moments ago Bonnie." Domino replied, drawing a nod from the woman.

"Good... Contact him and tell him to get his butt onboard Skyone."

"Yes Ma'am."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So someone's coming for us?"

"Yes Eli. They know we are here. They now know approximately where to look. They will find us."

Elizabeth nodded slowly as she sank back into Kitt's front seat, a heavy sigh released from her lungs.

"Elizabeth it would be better if you attempted to sleep." Kitt advised gently.

"Because it will conserve air... That's the problem down here isn't it? Air?"

Kitt was silent to that but for a low sigh that filled the cabin. "Yes Eli. That is the problem."

"How much air is there?"

"Enough to last Eli. Don't worry on such things."

Eli quietly glared at Kitt's dash. They looked so much like Karr's it was easy to slip into conversation with the car. Only the personality was different. Oh was it different... She missed Karr. Kitt was nice but he was so... Considerate... He was to nice and to pleasant. It was as if he was simply trying to appease her. She supposed it was just a clash of personality. After all Kitt had been nothing but... Almost parental since they had been buried. Still though she found herself missing that goodnatured banter that she shared with Karr. She wanted Karr. She would rather be stuck down here with Karr.

"Look... If I'm gonna die, I wanna know. Don't sugar coat it and don't 'long enough to last' me Kitt. How long do we have?"

Kitt sighed heavily, helplessly looking over at the two silent vehicles at his side. Smokescreen was barely visible. Just part of his hood could be seen from beneath the dirt. The part that had been shoved upward when the rest had been crushed.

Jazz had powered down to conserve energy. That pink liquid pooled around his tires and was a concern to Kitt. Powering down was probably the best thing Jazz could have done. He was worried about their situation... Worried about Smokescreen and Jazz and especially Eli... His thoughts also found themselves traveling in Beast's direction frequently... Beast and Dante... And Karr... Oh God Karr... He didn't even know if his brother he had worked so hard to protect was alive or dead. Dante hadn't mentioned him but for the fact that he was there. For all Kitt knew his sibling's life could have been snuffed out...

"Six hours." Kitt finally stated, pulling a slow nod from Eli.

"Can't we open the window? There's a pocket out there... I mean we can see Jazz..."

"No Eli. The gas lines ruptured. The air out there would be toxic for you." Kitt explained, gaining a slow nod from Eli. "Oh..."

"Remain calm Eli. Help will come."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He came back online slowly. Finding himself encased in a tomb just as the others had. 'Have I been deactivated again?' He thought to himself confused beyond reasoning. Even if there had been light he would not have been able to see. What little he could hear was muffled and filled with static. He hadn't attempted to speak but he knew that if he attempted it his voice would not be his own. Rather than the voice modified by his voice moderator it would be flat and obviously computerized. He didn't think he would be able to move.

'Who am I?' He thought again not all that sure of the answer for a moment or two. "Karr" he finally stated out load in his voice that sounded alien to his own audios. That name sounded right. That must be it. Or at least it was someone he had once known for the name to come to mind now. But for now he was Karr.

'Am I dead?' Karr thought after a moment attempting to bring a few basic sensors online but failing. 'I am an AI. Is this what happens to computers when they die?'

Even as the thought escaped his damaged CPU he knew how silly it sounded. He couldn't possibly be dead. If he where dead he would be disconnected from his body and therefore unable to feel pain. Pain was all he knew at the moment. His entire body collapsed and folded in on itself like a tin can, tons of rock and rubble on top of him crushing him from every direction. Pain was an understatement. Pain and darkness. He feared the dark. He was closed in. Trapped. Panic welled in the pit of his fuel tank causing him to shift into gear. Horrible panic that overcame all senses. Shifting into gear only brought more pain. Pain and the oppressing darkness. Couldn't move. Things where pressing down on him. Couldn't think. Couldn't escape. He was trapped.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dante would have jumped in surprise if he had been physically able to move. At his side he felt Attack Beast jerk just a bit, even the normally so solid truck startled by the sound that had welled up.

An unearthly screech filled the small area they were in. It pierced the audios and surged right down through his CPU to cause physical pain after only a moment or two of hearing it. It was high pitched... Electronic... It was horrible.

"Wha' 'at?" Beast's slurred voice came across the lines, but Dante could only send a helplessly silent reply.

Another screech welled up. This time he could tell the direction. It came from the sports car he was pressed against.

"Karr!" His voice yelled out the vehicle's name as soon as the screech died down.

Instantly there was silence. A deadly silence. After a brief moment a horrible screech of metal on metal sounded. "No Karr! Don't start your engine! There's a fuel leak!"

The sound died down, replaced by a soft keening sound. It sounded... Pitiful. For the first time a spot of sympathy welled up in Dante's processors...

"Beast... Can you pick up anything of Karr?"

"'es... 'urt"

"Yes Beast... I know he's hurt..." Dante thought for a long moment, a soft sigh released. "Karr! Can you hear me?"

That keening sound didn't stop. It was constant... A pitiful sound of an animal cornered.

"Listen to me Karr. If you can hear me... Eli is in Kitt's cab. She's alright."

"Eli? Eli get out." The voice was... Disturbing... Electronic... Dante cringed at the sound.

"No Karr. She came back in. I think after you. Kitt has her. She's safe. Kitt was able to contact HQ. Someone is coming for us. Do you understand?"

"Eli... Eli with Kitt?"

The voice was slurred though not as badly as Beast's. It sounded as if Karr was simply trying to conserve as much energy as he could. Say what was absolutely necessary. Not so much a worry. They all did it when speaking through a monitor. A way of short cuts.

"Yes. Eli is with Kitt."

"Kitt Kill me... Will kill me. Programming different. Keep Eli safe."

Dante paused at that. He wasn't entirely sure what was being said. Though after a moment he thought he had the puzzle figured out. 'Kitt will kill me. But his programming is different than mine. He will keep Eli safe.'

He couldn't really deny the killing part. That was why they were here after all... Though for whatever reasons he simply couldn't say it now...

"Yes Karr. Kitt will keep Eli safe."

"Kitt... Kill Karr... But keep Eli safe... Glad Kitt here. Tell Kitt... Sorry..."

The voice faded off as Karr powered down again. The air filled by a stunned silence. Karr was happy that Kitt was here? Entrusted Kitt with that of his ward it seemed... He was glad Kitt was here because Kitt would keep Eli safe. Even though it meant Karr's demise... That... Didn't sound like the Karr he had studied. Had his programing changed?

"Dant'?"

"Yes Beast?"

"'at wa' 'ierd..."

"I agree Beast... That was very weird..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright I think we're ready to take off..."

Prime's attention slowly shifted to where the young lady by the name of Jenny stood, looking over a clipboard in her hands.

"Are all of those that were to ride onboard this aircraft onboard?" Prime questioned, causing Jenny to jump just a bit as she looked up at him. His voice had much more power to it than any of the vehicles. It was strange. The vehicles were always happy to take orders and do as they were told while this truck... He held a voice of power.

"Yes... Your second in command informed me that Skyfire is fully loaded and ready to go, and we will be just as soon as the last few of your troops are loaded and settled in which should only take a few more moments. But technically we're ready to go."

"Thank you Ms. Andrews." Jenny gave a quick nod and set off for parts of the plane unknown. She reminded him a little of Prowl. No nonsense... Would make a fine leader. Very loyal to her commander who he had been told was Kyle. The human that was currently with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

The soft roar of a plane taking off filled the air as Skyfire took to the air. Prime himself was aboard Skyone. All the garage equipment had been pushed back against the walls and into upper storage units to accommodate for more vehicles than were normally parked there. Upon first boarding Prime had been impressed... Very impressed. It seemed that the entire purpose for the garage was to attend to every single need of the vehicles. From mechanical to the more tricky problems.

Upon first entering there had been five, very clearly defined parking places. Only three of them currently occupied. However as soon as Prime had been directed into a space that had been made by the now absent semi, they had begun clearing out that equipment. Currently those spaces were absent in a sea of vehicles. However, Prime rather got a kick out of the words Attack Beast plainly displayed over Ratchet's hood.

He doubted Ratchet even noticed. The medic was far to busy tallying up what he would be needed for. As he should...

There was a soft bang and abruptly the light from outside faded, sending the garage into a much dimmer lighting before the overheads kicked in.

"Alright guys I know this isn't the most absolutely fabulous conditions... But try to relax. We're going to get us to L.A. as fast as we can." Bonnie called out from the cat walk up above them.

"Does this flight come with an in flight movie?"

The question brought a round of laughter. The original source had been one of the Autobots, but Prime couldn't tell exactly who.

Bonnie smiled and chuckled softly, a shake of her head given. "No but if you ask really sweetly Domino might turn her radio up."

"When are we going to be taking off?" Prime questioned softly.

Bonnie opened her mouth to speak but paused as her hands clenched tightly at the railing of the catwalk, a soft thump going through the plane.

"We just did." She responded weakly hurrying from the catwalk and disappearing deeper inside of the plane.

"Is she alright?" Ratchet questioned from where he was parked. Beside him Domino gave a soft chuckle.

"She'll be fine sweetie. Flying frightens her. As it does Kitt. Kitt will never come up into the plane." She explained quietly. "It's in his programming, because Bonnie is the one who programmed him."

"The poor thing was a nervous wreck all the way here." Kat explained, a slight shiver going through her half of the combo vehicle. That... Was a bit disturbing to the Autobots. How they could simply sit connected as they were. Autobots of course had their gesault teams... That was different. Five or so Autobots connected into one, however it was very temporary and to remain that way took up a lot of energy. Kat and Plato seemed rather happy to sit as they were attached to each other to form one vehicle.

"Don't call me Shirley!" The blurted out phrase from Plato drew a brief silence.

"What did he say?" Prime then ventured, pulling a low chuckle from Domino.

"Sweetie when you figure that out let us know."

There was a very soft thud around them, the tremor shooting through the floor and tingling their tires. There was a brief and rather tense silence before Domino ventured an explanation.

"Sky one when taking off goes straight up like a helicopter. That's why you felt very little G-force. Because we didn't have to pick up much speed to climb into the air. Now we've leveled out and what you're feeling is the tremor of us moving into a standard path of flight."

"Domino... I'm impressed. There is a CPU in there." Kat commented, the result an irritated silence from Domino.

"So... This is y'all's base?" Ironhide ventured, gaining a dip of Dominio's prow in form of a nod.

"Yes it is. Any maintenance, upgrades, repairs, or anything else we might need can be done right here, as well as any connections we need to the outside world in form of resources. Very rarely do we need to go back to Knight Industries."

"Wow... Two intelligent answers in a row." Kat commented softly.

"Alright you two wheeled tonka toy from hell..." Dominio started off but was abruptly interrupted as Jenny came down the catwalk stairs.

"Dominio! Kat! That's enough! I don't know what's gotten into you two but it stops now." Jenny stated flatly, both vehicles falling silent before Jenny's gaze would sweep around to Prime. "I'm sorry. They're worried about their team mates which is putting them both on edge. They're not normally like this."

"Understandable. We are as well worried for our own team mates." Prime explained gaining a slight nod from Jenny.

"I'm sure you are... In their case Dante is the one who keeps them all in line. I think they're also stepping out just a bit with the lack of authority in the garage." Jenny mused, a slight shrug given. "They've been at it since the team split up a few days ago. Anyway what I was coming down here to tell you is that we're right on schedule and should be landing about twenty minutes or less after Skyfire."

"Thank you Ms. Andrews." Prime offered, briefly dipping down on his front tires as the knight vehicles tended to do. Jenny offered a quick salute then set off up the catwalk stairs at a jog. It only took a few moments before Dominio and Kat picked up their previous bickering. True it seemed... Lack of authority.

"Ladies that's enough." He stated simply. Instantly silence fell upon them both. It was going to be a long flight he was thinking...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright watch it, those beams look a little tricky. Use what we already have going as a support!" At the site of the cave in even without back up there was a flurry of activity.

The humans as of yet were not much help on their own. All they could do was try to remain out of the way. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were in the thick of it with the Arielbots doing what they could to carry away ruble, Sideswipe calling out instructions every now and again about supporting beams. They certainly didn't want another cave in.

"Get anything?" Duke jumped just a bit as Kyle came up behind him. He shook his head, a soft sigh released, a finger lightly taping at the watch on his wrist.

"Nope... Silent as the grave..."

"Duke don't say that... They'll be fine. One of them down there managed to contact Sunstreaker." Kyle pointed out gaining a slight nod from Duke.

"I never let Beast choose..."

Kyle blinked and glanced over at Duke, a rather puzzled expression given to the other man. "Choose what?"

Duke sighed heavily, lightly tapping at his communicator as if that would bring back the voice of his partner. "On the rare times that you go on vacation you ask Dante where he wants to go... Trek always discusses travel plans with Plato... Even Jenny and Erica talk to their partners about where they're going on vacation... I never asked Beast..."

"You took him off roading that one time." Kyle pointed out quietly.

"Eh, I didn't ask him. Just went because he was bugging me about it. Same goes for the race we went to... I should have asked him."

"Baby steps Duke. Plenty of time for that when he gets out of there." Kyle offered, a light pat given to his team mate's shoulder.

"Yeah but what if-" They both paused, attention brought to Sunstreaker who was quickly approaching. The Autobot knelt down a nod given before he quickly launched into an explanation.

"One of the AI vehicles was able to get a signal out. We are redoubling our efforts to where we think that AI to be. Where we thought no human life was in danger we have now found that the young girl that was with the rogue AI is in that AI's cab."

Both Duke and Kyle paled just a bit, slow nods given as they considered that. The girl was down there. Buried under tons of dirt and rock...

"Who has her?" Kyle questioned softly, gaining a quick nod from Sunstreaker.

"Kitt I believe." He reported, quickly getting to his feet and hurrying back to where the work was continuing.

Duke and Kyle blinked and exchanged a puzzled look. "Kitt?" Was all they could say to that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are we there yet?"

"Blue Streak enough." Prime scolded for what seemed like the hundredth time. If he had thought the trip to Peru had been hell... Obviously then he hadn't been cramped in vehicle form in the garage of Skyone... This was absolutely frightening...

"I'm just saying... Are we coming up on California?"

"Not for another thirty minutes or so." Dominio stated softly. Even she seemed to sound as if she were ready to snap. The conditions were absolutely... Frightening...

"How do you all live like this?" Ironhide grumbled, pulling a soft sigh from Domino.

"There's a huge difference between five vehicles and well over two dozen." Dominio pointed out softly.

"I hate to say it..." Kat muttered softly. "But I'm actually starting to miss Beast and Dante."

"We all miss Beast and Dante. I even miss that garbage Beast calls music." Domino mused softly.

"Now I wouldn't go that far..." Kat mused, a light shudder seeming to go through her.

"I would" The voice came from the stairs, attention abruptly caught as Erica descended the steps up to the cat walk. "His music wasn't that bad, and it was much better than whatever it is the rest of you fill this garage with. A little musical diversity won't kill you."

"No it'll just make us suffer in the process." Kat pointed out.

Erica rolled her eyes and silently moved to pull up a chair beside the rather sour motorcycle, remaining silent as she hooked up wires to alternating ports, said wires hooked up to a laptop that had remained on a stand beside the vehicle.

"What are you doing miss West?" Prime questioned curiously, watching the process with mild interest.

"We have to run diagnostics on our vehicles before going into a new mission. Since we're going to be a possibility of us running into trouble down there, we figure we should make sure their all in top shape."

"What kind of trouble? The Decepticons were chased away." Bluestreak pointed out.

"That may be true, but I wouldn't count the Decepticons out yet." Prime reprimanded gently.

"Forget the Decepticons." Dominio protested, "Karr has found a way to worm his way out of imprisonment three times! Twice after he had been completely destroyed and once after he had been shut down! The foundation isn't taking ANY chances this time around. FLAG is sending in a team to completely secure the area before we even pull his fender out of the ground. He's not getting away this time... They want us all to be on high alert when we start digging him out."

"He's under several tons of dirt and rock. I don't think he's going to be coming up out of the ground fighting." Said Ratchet softly.

"None of us really expect him to... But we're still not taking any chances. The first time he had been completely shut down. Technically that should have been the end of that... The second time he was blown up and thrown off of a cliff and spent two years under the sand of a beach... The third he was picked up in little bitty pieces across the landscape... The foundation isn't taking any chances."

"What will happen to him once he is caught?"

Erica glanced up at Prime's question, a slight shrug given. "I guess he'll be shut down again. Jenny said something about overloading the CPU and erasing it, though with his record I wouldn't be surprised if he had a backup system somewhere..."

"Wait a minute... So essentially what you are saying is that he will be executed as soon as we dig him out?" Prime demanded gaining a soft sigh from Erica.

"Prime I know it sounds bad but..." She paused for a moment, coming up with a blank and sighed, throwing her head back and calling up the catwalk stairs. "Devon! Come down here and explain this!"

Prime let out a rumble, which was met by Erica lifting a hand to silence him. "Hang on Prime. I'm not the best person to ask about this. I drive a motorcycle and I get into places I shouldn't be able to because I was a con artist. Stop asking me questions I don't know the answer to." She stated simply, her attention going back to her diagnostics. "Kat page Mr. Miles would ya?"

The garage fell into a heavy silence as Kat complied to the request, her voice ringing out overhead for Mr. Miles to come to the garage. Within' a few moments Devon's rather feeble form was hobbling his way down the cat walk stairs, moving slowly as cane supported most of his weight.

"Mr. Miles are you alright?" Ratchet questioned, a little worriedly. "You don't look well."

"I'm alright, I'm alright. What's going on down here?"

"Mr. Miles you have spent the past several days attempting to convince us of Kitt's sentience, why is Karr any different?" Prime questioned simply, drawing a heavy sigh from Devon.

"There's a big difference." Devon explained with a gentle shrug. "Karr attempted to kill me. That aside he also killed five technicians the night he was shut down. Karr is dangerous. How he has managed to not cause the harm of anyone thus far is beyond me entirely."

"As it is, he just scared the hell out of a street cop..." Erica muttered from where she was bent over Kat. "By the way... Where's Trek and Jenny? I thought you said we all had to run this diagnostics?" Erica abruptly demanded, her head lifting to look at Devon.

"Erica I told you that you all needed to run these diagnostics three days ago. Jenny and Trek did them three days ago. If you had not procrastinated you would not be here now." Devon pointed out, his gaze turning back to Prime. "Anything else I can help you with Prime?"

"Shouldn't Karr be given a proper hearing? A trial of some kind?"

Devon sighed and gave a slight nod. "Kitt had already requested that. It will be considered. As it is the foundation is setting up standards since our AI's are becoming plentiful. Law standards and the basis of hearings when needed where rogue AI's are concerned. However, you must understand that when working with the foundation many human rights are given up as well. Each operative upon becoming employed with the foundation forfeits their right to a trial by peers. Their identity is in a sense stricken from the record."

"See?" Erica suddenly pipped up. "The Foundation of Law and Government is an equal opportunity oppressor."

"Erica!" Erica flinched at Devon's tone and quickly went back to checking over Kat's systems.

"Well, they should get better dental!" Erica pointed out, her attention still on the screen of her laptop.

"Mr. Miles are you well?" Domino suddenly cut in, catching the old man's attention. "Your vitals seem off..."

"Domino I'm fine... And for the last time stop scanning me. You know I hate that."

"But Mr. Miles... Your blood pressure is at a heightened level, suggesting stress, and your pulse has nearly doubled in speed and..."

"Domino enough..."

"But Devon..."

Devon ignored the further lectures that were coming from the car, silently turning and heading up the stairs, leaning heavily on his cane as he went.

"You know he does look a little pasty..." Erica mused, setting her lap top aside for the time being. "Devon, maybe you really should sit down for a while."

"Erica don't you start to." Devon scolded without looking back. "Bonnie is bad enough."

"But Devon" She called, repeating Domino's tone just a few moments before.

Of which was promptly ignored as he started up the steps hobbling his way up the first five steps and stopped, grasping the railing tightly and trying to catch his breath.

Erica put her equipment aside and moved off to help him, though she didn't get far. Devon groaned in pain and sank to the steps, prompting several technicians that had been working around the garage to hurry to his side.

"Code Blue to the garage!" Domino's voice rang out over the P.A. as the Autobots looked on in a stunned silence.

"What happened?" Bluestreak abruptly blurted out, pulling a slight flinch from the Knight vehicles.

No one at the moment was entirely willing to discuss it as a medical crew hurried down from the catwalk. In a bustle of activity Devon was moved onto a stretcher and quickly wheeled away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I should have stayed with Karr... I bet he's lonely."

Eli had been silent some time, but what she said that had broken the silence caught Kitt entirely by surprise. "Elizabeth I wouldn't worry about that." Kitt offered gently, pulling a shrug from Eli.

"I'll bet he's scared... If he's awake I bet he's scared. He doesn't like closed in spaces."

"Eli I assure you it's safer for you to be with me right now. I don't think that Karr would be able to offer life support as I am. Aside from that he has Beast and Dante to keep him company."

"He's afraid of them." Eli mused, looking out the windshield at the barely visible outline of rock just outside.

"I'm sorry Eli... You have to understand just how dangerous Karr is."

Eli sighed heavily and lay back in the passenger's seat, pushing the seat back until she was reclined and laying down rather comfortably. "Do you think he's alright?"

Kitt chuckled softly at the thought. "I think he's to stubborn not to be alright. I don't think you have to worry a bit."

Eli sighed heavily, not bothering to comment on that, humming softly to herself.

"What's that?" Kitt questioned after a few moments.

"What's what?"

"That song..." Kitt pressed on, his gaze briefly shifting to the side. In the darkness he could just barely make out Jazz's hood. To conserve energy the Autobot had shut down all major functions and gone into something he called stasis.

He couldn't see Smokescreen but he knew he was still there. Prayed to anyone listening that he was alright...

"A song my mother use to sing to me..." Eli offered after a time a slight stretch given. "Did you ever see a dream... Walkin'. Well I did. Did you ever see a dream... Talkin'. Well I did. Did you ever have dream thrill you with will you be mine... Oh it's so grand and it's to, to divine... Did you ever see a dream dancing... well I did. Did you ever see a dream romancing... well I did. Did you ever see heaven right in your arms saying I love you I do. Well the dream that was walkin and the dream that was talkin' and the heaven in my arms was you.."

"I do know that song..." Kitt mused softly. "Bing Crosbey I do believe."

"Mhmm..." Eli muttered softly, sitting up again to stare out the passenger's side window at what little she could see. "That other car is alright isn't he?" She questioned softly.

"I believe so. He's doing what you should be doing. Sleep will conserve oxygen young lady."

"How do you expect me to sleep in a life or death situation?" Eli questioned flatly drawing a sigh from Kitt.

"It's not a life or death situation. It's a sit and wait situation. Now sit down and wait." Eli sighed but nodded and sat down, her gaze still locked out of the passenger window.

There was movement not far from the window and Kitt snapped to attention as Jazz slowly rose from stasis.

"Jazz?" Kitt questioned softly as the Autobot gave a soft hiss of pain.

"There's other Autobots out there... I'm picking up little bursts of a frequency..."

"Good..." Kitt muttered quietly shifting his gaze up to the roof of their little pocket. Worry and fear was beginning to creep its way into his sensors...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Can I have your attention please? Hey!" The basic commotion died down for the most part but it wasn't until Jenny let out a loud whistle across the garage that everyone actually shut up.

"Thank you." Bonnie commented, climbing halfway up the catwalk stairs to be heard clearly. "Skyfire just landed a few minutes ago and everyone is being unloaded and they're getting themselves over to ground zero. We're just a few minutes off but we won't be landing at the military complex as we first thought. We're being redirected to L.A. international."

"Dr. Barstow that's going to be at least a thirty minute drive to the site and that's only if there's a miracle and there's no traffic..." Ironhide pointed out, pulling a slight nod from the very distressed looking Bonnie.

"I know that and I'm sorry guys. But we have an ambulance waiting on the ground at L.A. international."

"Dr. Barstow what is the condition of Mr. Miles?" Prime questioned softly.

Bonnie sighed and ran a hand through her hair nervously as she descended the steps to the catwalk. The floor beneath them lurched just a bit, suggesting the plane was distending. The fact that the could feel it at all would suggest a rather quick landing.

"The onboard doctor says that he's had a massive heart attack. The Skyone infirmary is prepared for any foreseeable illness or injury but the doctor has suggested that we transfer Mr. Miles to a proper facility as soon as possible."

"Bonnie!" Bonnie instantly looked up to where Trek was hanging over the railing of the catwalk. "The Doc says to get the space in front of the ramp cleared out until we can get Mr. Miles off the plane. He says there's no way in hell he's rolling a patient down that ramp on a stretcher so you're gonna have to direct the Ambulance inside."

Bonnie sighed heavily and nodded, hurrying down into the garage level. "Alright guys you heard him. You move over there, and you all get back against the wall." The cluster of mini bots who had been parked by the door, instantly started moving as Bonnie jogged her way into the thick of the group. If the situation wasn't so serious Prime would have laughed. He got a distinct image in his processor of an old lady flipping her apron at them. Though the mini bots were moving under said direction. And quickly... He was going to have to remember that... As the jet thumped, suggesting the tires had made contact with the pavement, and began slowing down, there was a large space in front of the door that was empty. It was when the plane began slowing down that the elevator from up above began descending, a medical team wheeling a stretcher between them, a few portable monitors and such hooked up to the now very frail looking older man. Beside Devon's stretcher Michael kept close, holding the old man's hand as they wheeled him out.

It was... Very strange. This was the man that had been arguing with Prime the past few day about the Knight vehicles and now... He looked so weak and frail... It was almost frightening how fast the health of a human could flip around. As Skyone landed, silence befell the garage, not wanting to have to answer any questions as more humans came aboard. That silence was broken abruptly after several moments. An ambulance, rolled its way onboard, the siren having been cut but the steady strobe of emergency lights still flashing as it pulled its way into the garage.

Quickly the medic team from the infirmary moved in, wheeling Devon along as the paramedics quickly hopped out of the ambulance to help them. Once Devon was loaded, the Skyone doctor hopped into the ambulance, the rest of the medical staff, quickly backing off as Bonnie hopped in soon after.

"Bonnie!"

Michael and Erica quickly jogged over to stop the paramedic from closing the door, gaining a sour look from Bonnie.

"They're going to need you once they pull the others out." Michael pointed out, a firm grip held on the back of the ambulance door.

"I'm not leaving Devon alone." The older woman snapped firmly.

"Bonnie I'll go with him." Erica abruptly put in, hopping into the ambulance herself. "I'm useful in espionage, not digging and such. But if Beast is as hurt as they say he is, he's going to need you. And you know Kitt's not going to trust any other tech. I'll go with him. I won't leave him for even a second I promise." Bonnie looked uncertain with this but after a few moments she nodded slowly and stepped down off of the ambulance.

Michael quickly pulled her away as the paramedics closed the back doors. The Ambulance waisted no time in pulling out again, the sirens giving a whoop and picking up as soon as they were off of the plane.

Bonnie buried her face in her hands, seeming to be about to collapse herself as Jenny pulled her from Michael and gently guided her to Dominio, who silently clicked open the passenger's side door for Bonnie to sit down for a few moments and collect herself. She sobbed into her hands, reaching a point of hysterics that was difficult to get through to.

"Prime?" Ratchet suddenly questioned softly, seeming to be a little unease with the sudden burst of emotion from the humans. "We're going to need some form of a medical set up and base of operations." He almost whispered, not really wanting to disturb Jenny from trying to calm down Bonnie.

"I know but-"

Prime was abruptly cut off as Trek approached, dabbing at his own eyes but seeming a lot more collected than the one who had worked with Devon for so long.

"What about the Knight Industries facility? There's more labs in that place than I've even been able to explore and there's a big one here in L.A..."

"FLAG's not gonna be to happy about that.." Kat pointed out gently.

Trek sighed and nodded. "I know but we're gonna need a place for some massive repairs... Ratchet was there another medic aboard Skyfire?"

"Yes. First Aide and Wheeljack were both onboard." He explained keeping his voice low.

"Good. Then let them be the field medics and I'll take you to the Knight Facility and you can see for yourself if you can use it or not."

Ratchet fell quiet for a long moment, seeming to consider weather or not he wanted to do that, but in the end, he grudgingly had to agree. They needed an HQ of some kind, and it would be way to risky to try and move a very badly damaged Jazz and Smokescreen by plane. They needed a place to get them stabilized and quickly.

"That's not a bad idea Prime."

"Very well. Ratchet go with Mr. Sanders and see to it that you have a decent medical facility. Take whoever you may need to help you. The rest of us will go to the military bunker where the others are." Prime ordered, gaining a soft rumble of agreement.

From where they were, Jenny only nodded as she urged Bonnie into pulling her feet into Domino, then shutting the door behind the grieving woman. As worried as they were, they had to get to that site before they could go see about Devon. Devon himself would have insisted that... Especially with Kitt and that girl buried as well.

"Alright" Trek stammered, seeming abruptly a little nervous as he jogged over to where his motorcycle was parked. He disconnected Plato from the combo car that was formed between him and Kat and straddled the bike and cranked it up, rolling it forward and even with Ratchet. "I'm gonna pull out, come on out when you're ready to go." He called over the engine and pulled down the ramp. Ratchet gave a quick snort but turned on the others, ordering about three others to follow as he pulled out, closely followed by his chosen minions.

"Alright Autobots... Roll out!" Prime called to those who were left, Domino taking point as she headed down the ramp, the rest of the Autobots heading out ahead, Prime forced to wait until the others left before he could pull out of his spot in the back of the plane.

Michael started over in his direction, a deep sigh given as the man knelt down in front of Kat, giving her some instructions. Kat spoke softly in agreement, apparently staying behind on Skyone, to take the head technician from Skyone to the set up that Ratchet would be creating. Once that was cleared up the man stood up and jogged his way over to Prime.

"Hey big guy. Mind givin' a fella a ride?"

Prime only chuckled softly and clicked his driver's side door open, gaining a nod of thanks from Michael as the human climbed in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I don't know Kyle... It's been hours..." Kyle had no choice but to nod in agreement with Duke's statement. The man was right... It had been just a few hours ago that the news had come in about the little girl down there with them... She had been down there a long time and the longer she was down there... The more worried they all became.

About an hour prior the first wave of Autobots had arrived to help. Now they had split up into two teams. One was quickly digging in the area they thought Kitt and the girl to be, as well as the two Autobots. The other were digging for Beast and Dante...

There had been brief discussion about where full effort should be, but they quickly found that it was actually faster to work as they were, with less bodies in the way.

Powerful engines caught the attention of both as they looked up, the familiar form of Domino pulling into the lot, followed closely by a massive red rig, a line of vehicles right behind him.

"Must be the rest of them..." Kyle muttered softly. The rig stopped and allowed Michael Knight to hop out before unfolding himself, the others following suite. They waisted no time in meeting up with the others to see where they were, and getting to work as quickly as possible.

"Michael!"

Michael's attention was caught, the man running over to meet up with Duke and Kyle, a quick nod given to the both of them.

"What's the update?" Kyle questioned, pulling a deep sigh from Michael as he pulled them both aside.

"Devon's had a heart attack..." Of all the things they had been expecting... That wasn't it. At their shocked expressions Michael silently nodded and sighed. "All the injured that are gonna be pulled up are to be transported to Knight Facilities, so Kyle I need you to take Domino and get over there as soon as possible and make sure FLAG doesn't give Ratchet and Trek any problems. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things. Duke I need you to help Jenny and Bonnie. Bonnie will probably need an extra hand when they pull Beast and Dante out..."

The two nodded and hurried to their respective tasks as Michael turned to watch what was going on as the Autobots threw themselves into the task of freeing the trapped AI's and Autobots...

"Michael." Michael turned around as Prime spoke his name, a light nod given.

"Sunstreaker reports that they have had no further contact since the first time Kitt transmitted."

Michael nodded slowly and sighed. "Maybe they're just conserving energy Prime. We're doing everything we can. So worrying about what might happen ain't gonna cut it anymore."

Prime nodded his solemn agreement, his gaze sweeping over the massive project. "We are doing everything we can Michael, and I assure you that we will make every effort to help your AI's."

Michael sighed heavily and nodded, briefly staring at the ground. "I know you will Prime. Our first concern as you know is that little girl... However... I know you don't exactly believe our AI's to be much more than fancy computers. So we really appreciate all of this."

Prime gave a slow nod, suddenly just a bit uncomfortable as he oversaw the project.

"What will happen to Kitt?" He abruptly questioned, gaining a flinch from Michael.

"I honestly don't know... The board won't like it that he defied an order..."

"Even though he saved this girl?" Prime questioned slowly. Again he pulled a slight nod from Michael. "They want him shut down. They'll use the excuse."

Prime sighed and turned his gaze back to the project. Dark was beginning to fall, and many Autobots had switched on headlights and other forms of light sources to help them along. In thirty minutes... They would reach the six hour mark...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kitt... I don't feel so well..."

Kitt sighed heavily in the darkness, glancing over at Jazz for help, even though he already knew there was nothing the Autobot could do. "I know Eli... Try to go to sleep. The light headed feeling should pass."

"But Kitt..." Eli curled up into a tight ball, pressing a hand to the side of her head as her eyes squeezed closed. It was getting harder to breath... The air was getting thinner and thinner... Kitt kept telling her to get some sleep... That it would conserve oxygen... Though the truth was that Kitt wasn't sure if even that would help at this point... Maybe just make her more comfortable... She had begun complaining of headaches about twenty minutes prior... Now she was simply light headed and he could hear her gasping for each breath she took.

"I shouldn't have run away..." Kitt gave a slight start at the sudden change of subject, a little worried but let her talk.

"I should have never left home..." She sniffed quietly, her face burying against Kitt's seat as she cried into the leather. "Kitt if you ever get out of here... Could you call my mama? Tell her I'm sorry?"

Kitt sighed softly, more than a little worried now. The girl had shifted into hysterics... "Eli, please calm down... This won't do you any good..."

Silence met his plea, Kitt's attention slowly drawn to Eli. She... Was asleep it seemed... No. She had passed out.

"Eli?" Kitt called out firmly but she didn't stir. Her breathing was falling more and more shallow as the air supply slowly dwindled down to nothing.

"Jazz?"

The car beside Kitt stirred a bit, coming out of Stasis and visibly tilting Kitt's way to let him know he was listening. "My internal clock has gone down... How long have we been down here?"

Jazz sighed and checked the timing though he didn't answer when he came up with it. "The girl?" He questioned softly.

"Out..."

Jazz gave a heavy sigh, and settled back down. "Under your earlier calculations she should only have a few minutes of air left..."

Kitt turned his gaze upward fragile roof above them. "We're not getting out of here are we?"

Jazz would shift just a bit, not really wanting to answer at this point. He himself had lost a dangerous amount of energon... Most of his systems were down. It wouldn't be long before his coolant systems didn't have enough power to run...

Smokescreen wasn't quite as badly off. He was buried and he was having trouble keeping his systems cool, but the energon leak was minimal and his systems had for the most part stopped the leak. An amazing thing since the beam had first come down on him...

Their last transmission between Beast and Dante had suggested that the two AI's were hanging in there... That had been about an hour before. According to Dante, Beast was just a little delirious... He couldn't determine why that was or what damage could be causing the loop in his CPU, but over the link Kitt had been privileged enough to hear Beast declaring his love for ponies...

It had him a little worried that Beast's CPU might be unrepairable... If that was the case he didn't know what stand the foundation would take on the injured AI...

"We're going to get out of here Kitt." Jazz stated firmly.

Kitt sighed softly and stared up at the roof of their small air pocket. "In time?"

Jazz couldn't answer that... They fell silent for a few moments leaving Kitt to think. If ever there was anyone who could help them... He would send out a prayer to any deity that would possibly listen if they could just get out of this...

Kitt's attention drew back to Eli's fragile form... She was dying. In his front seat she was dying and there was absolutely nothing he could do to save her. Already his spare O2 tanks had been depleted... His own systems were slowly overheating under the pressure of being buried as he had been... Eli would die in his front seat...

"I'm sorry..." He muttered quietly, settling down on his shocks and seeming to resign himself to his fate. Though beside him... Jazz tensed a bit...

Kitt's gaze returned to the Autobot who seemed transfixed on the roof of their air pocket. At that point... Kitt saw what he had. A tiny bit of dirt worked its way loose and fell onto Jazz's hood.

"Smokescreen wake up" Jazz hissed softly as another clump of it fell down on the car.

"Jazz?" Kitt questioned, though Jazz didn't answer right away, to occupied with what was happening.

Another clump of dirt fell, a soft rumble let out.

"Is it going to cave in?" Kitt questioned softly. That would be all they needed...

"I... Don't think so..." Jazz muttered, lifting up a bit on his shocks as he seemed to be attempting to get a reading. Again another clump of dirt fell onto the Autobot, but this time it was welcomed with an absolutely beautiful sight... A ray of light came with it.

Kitt froze as another clump of dirt fell down, pushed away as the roof suddenly gave, buckets of dirt coming toppling down atop of them, covering them in a thick layer of dirt. However, this time it was welcome as the beam of light grew bigger, shining down on them. Somewhere above an Autobot's voice rang out with "We've broken through!"

Kitt couldn't help but laugh at the very welcome sight. A mini bot hopped down the hole that was created, landing briefly on Jazz who let out a groan of pain, but simply didn't care otherwise. With the created vent, blessed air had rushed in, the toxic air of the air pocket itself clearing slowly but surely.

Quickly the minibot that Kitt remembered as being Bumblebee hurried over to Kitt. Again, a blessed sight... He was carrying with him what looked like a scuba diver's tank...

"I can't even tell you how good it is to see you..." Kitt almost purred out, pulling a laugh from Bumblebee as he got the door open and quickly secured the mask to Eli's mouth and nose to provide breathable air to her while they dug them out a bit more to get them out of there.

Kitt felt himself fading a bit... His systems needed to shut down. He had strained them to much. In the heavy fog of shutting down his CPU he could hear Bumblebee's radio going off.

"We've found Dante, we're digging them out."

Salvation wasn't that far away... Out of pure relief Kitt couldn't help but laugh as he went offline.

TBC


	6. Praying for Daylight

Horrific was a funny word... The humans used it. He strongly felt they had just made it up. To describe something that was so horrible... So absolutely terrible that it was actually rather... Amazing. A mix of something that would bring awe and wonder but at the same time be the worst thing that could have happened. Before now he never knew what that word really meant... How could something inspire awe and at the same time be horrible.

He knew it would be a horrible scene... He had known that the very second he had stepped off of Skyone. Knew what to expect. He had known what to expect yet when he had seen it for the first time... Lay a visual on the destruction and helplessness that those trying to dig out their comrades felt... He now knew. It was horrific. Optimus Prime stood in sullen silence as he watched. It had been nearly half an hour since they had broken through and thus far still they worked. Bumblebee had almost instantly volunteered to be the one lowered down into the hole that had imprisoned their comrades...

One of the paramedics of the ambulance that was currently standing by had apparently agreed and shoved an oxygen tank into Bumblebee's hands and instructed him on how to use it. How to make sure the girl would be alright even after all this time.

Bonnie had been right behind him telling Bumblebee how to use Kitt to check her vitals and for God's sake check on Kitt himself!

That had been half an hour ago. As quickly as they had dug into the cave in... Now they were making certain it was stable. Making certain they could get their friends out without just burying them again. Now they had brought in a cable that was currently lowered down, that Bumblebee would be attached to, and lifted out, holding the girl and bringing her to the safety of the waiting ambulance.

Once she was clear they felt they had the hole at a point that they could begin to pull out their comrades...

From where he was he could see that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had apparently been the ones to pull up Bumblebee, the two of them carefully securing the line. Very slowly, not wanting to hit the walls of the narrow tunnel they had created...

After what seemed like forever Bumblebee emerged, the girl tightly held to his chest, the tank that had been her air supply in the still toxic air of the underground air pocket secured tightly against him. As soon as his feet had hit the ground he hurried over to the waiting paramedics who quickly got her on a stretcher and began looking her over. Prime was pleased to see that by the time they loaded the stretcher into the ambulance she was already starting to wake up.

His attention with the girl was short lived as the ambulance quickly hurried out of the area. She was out of his hands now... She had been handed over to the capable hands of doctors and human medics... There were six others he now concerned himself with...

His gaze shifted over to the other side of the complex where they were working hard to dig out Dante and Beast. No real reports had come from that side other than the fact they had found them. Unlike Jazz's group Dante's group had been completely encased in dirt. There had been no handy dandy air pocket to move around in and work in... They had simply been buried in dirt and rock. As much as she hated to leave Kitt to his current fate Bonnie's current target was getting Beast out. As it was she stood perched on the side of the hole leading down to them, calling down instructions to the Autobot who had lowered himself down and was carefully trying to keep the AI's safe from further damage as the Autobots carefully pulled buckets of dirt from the hole they had created.

Of course most of her concern at the moment revolved entirely around how they handled Beast... Dante as they quickly determined was covered in dirt and had a badly damaged frame but otherwise he was fine. He just needed some sensors replaced and he would be good as new. Beast on the other hand while he had not suffered much structural damage had fallen victim to a very well placed pipe that had decided to come down on him and more or less impale him.

From what had been explained to him, Beast's armor was superior to most of his AI companions. He was designed to take impact. Much the same as Ironhide served in his younger years he imagined... The brunt force designed to buckle down and simply plow through anything that might stand in the way...

Out of all of them, he was the one they expected to have the least damage. Was actually the least damaged... If not for a freak accident that could have happened to any one of them...

On Jazz's side he watched as Wheeljack disappeared into the hole apparently acting as medic as they dug out around them. On Dante's side he was more than a little surprised his Autobots had been able to stop Bonnie from doing the same...

"Prime?"

Prime's attention snapped up as Prowl's voice startled him from just behind as his second and command stepped up beside him. "They're about to lift Jazz out." Prime let out a slow electronic sigh and nodded, his full attention turning to Jazz's side.

Several of the stronger bots had braced themselves against the cables they were using, using poles they had given into the dirt for support to slowly lift something obviously large from the hole they had created. Apparently attempting to keep Jazz level, he was carefully lifted, with the sling that had been strapped around him by Wheeljack.

It seemed like forever and a day. A very slow climb from a very deep hole... From what he had been told, they were nearly a hundred feet down below the surface. After several long, and agonizing minutes a cheer went up around the Autobot ranks as Jazz was lifted out in vehicle form.

It was a little surreal... Even on those rare occasions that Jazz was badly damaged he always had some sarcastic little comment. Some bad pun... It was why so many liked him so much. He was Jazz. No matter what. However, now there was only silence. He was awake at least. From where he stood Prime could see that. The sports car tiredly slumped against the slings that had pulled him out, a soft groan let out as he was jarred to the side.

Carefully he was maneuvered onto what looked like a flat bed wagon that the humans from the foundation had brought with them. It looked like one, but it had a motor to it and he was told it was operated by remote control. One end could obviously flip down and the other had what looked like a wench on it.

Jenny had told him that Trek designed it. Most of the foundation's semi's were now equipped with at least one... She had also mentioned that it had been designed just after their first encounter with KRO after Beast was badly damaged. Because of the sensitive damage a tow truck couldn't have been used, or rather at least Trek wouldn't allow it... After three and a half hours of trying to figure out how to flip Beast over and get him on a waiting semi he had designed that thing. A stretcher for cars.

Slowly Jazz was wheeled by the humans onto a waiting semi, the back doors quickly closed behind him as the massive rig took off for the foundation where Ratchet had set up shop.

Prime's attention turned from Jazz back to the scene infront of him. He was told that Smokescreen would probably be the last out. They were having to cut away an iron beam to get to him which was of course affecting the stabilization of the hole they had created...

In short, it was a lot of work which was going very, very slowly. While Huffer and Cliffjumper worked to cut away the beam that was trapping Smokescreen, Wheeljack was trying to get Kitt out from his own dirt prison...

There was a short lived cheer that died down into something of disgust at Beast's end. Prime quickly snapped his attention around as Bluestreak hauled out what looked like part of the hood of a Trans-am.... There were pulling Karr out in pieces...

XXXXXXXXXXX

The light had been an incredible sight... But the waiting was flat out painful. Dante's gaze lifted for the hundredth time to the light that seemed so very far away. Autobots were moving up and down the hole that had been created, trying to dig them out of there.

Their concern at the moment was Beast. Now that they had been dug out a bit he could see a sharp shard of... It wasn't pipe. It was an almost spear like sliver of steel, apparently broken off with a razor like edge to it... It had gone right through Beast and stuck into the ground beneath him. It was making actually moving Beast a bit more tricky than they had at first thought it possibly could be...

Their fear was that if they moved him, the sliver of steel would shift inside of the massive truck and make the injuries that much worse. If they could even get any worse...

Beast was already on a fragmented edge that worried Dante a little. The normally so rock steady truck was more than a little confused as to where he was. Already he had said things that Dante knew for a fact that he would not normally say... Declaring his love for ponies being one of them... That alone to Dante at least brought on enough to actually cause the SUV some concern... The Beast he knew.... Simply was not this Beast...

He had attempted talking to him through the process of digging him out... Once Bonnie arrived he was sorry to say he had actually for the most part given up. Bonnie was offering much more comfort than he could at the moment. Simply by being able to describe the process they were taking to get them out of there it was causing more than a little bit of comfort for Beast...

he had to wonder just what the hell was going on out there. No one had mentioned the others. There were others down there with them and no one thus far had been very forth coming with information. He couldn't decide if that was a good sign or a bad one.

It was the kind of silence that occurred when one was avoiding the unavoidable of informing someone of some very bad news of some kind. They never wanted to be the one to explain. Not far from him the one he was pretty sure they called Brawn had dropped down and was carefully helping to brush the dirt away from Beast. They took great care to not disturb the steel that was still lodged in his hood. A fact that Dante could of course appreciate.

"How is everyone else?"

Brawn's attention snapped up as Dante spoke to him, looking a bit surprised. "Jazz and Smokescreen... And Kitt." He pointed out slowly, the SUV attempting to move, the enclosed feeling of not being able to move so much as an inch, getting to him just a bit. "I'm sorry, this is all just very disturbing... You know the whole... Stuck in dirt thing. How are the others?"

"They pulled Jazz out a little while ago... He's in a bad way but he's Jazz he'll be fine."

"Good... Good..." Dante muttered, finding it just a bit difficult to remain focused as Brawn worked at carefully separating Beast from Karr. That was another problem they had run into... Apparently in the confusion and panic, either Karr had run into Beast or Beast had run into Karr... Their grills were twisted together to the point they had to get them separated before they tried to move anyone. "What about the girl?"

Brawn sighed and went back to carefully pushing away the dirt. He wasn't comfortable talking to Dante. It came as a bit of a shock... Dante had been activated by humans who already knew what to expect... Most humans who he did speak to while on a case of some sort were understandably shocked and maybe even a little weary of them at first but soon enough they settled into the fact that it was in deed a talking car and would not hurt them. He would have thought the Autobots would understand... However they seemed... Almost offended by it.

"They got the girl out. She's alright... They took her to the same hospital they took Mr. Miles." The fact that he had spoken at all was shocking enough. Though at the moment that wasn't the information Dante was centered around.

"Mr. Miles? What's wrong with Mr. Miles?"

"The humans said he had a heart attack or something like that on the way down here. They took him to the hospital. You know your humans have the strangest phrases. The strangest bodies to... I mean a heart is like a fuel pump right? Why would it attack you?"

Dante groaned softly and shut off visual for the time being. Devon had a heart attack?

"No the heart didn't attack... It means there was a blockage or... Well there can be a few different reasons but essentially it means that Devon's heart stopped working the way it should. They call it a heart attack because it feels as if someone is attacking your heart..."

"If the heart isn't attacking then why-"

Dante let out an electronic growl in frustration that for the time being stopped Brawn's question, the Autobot figuring it wouldn't be answered anyway.

"That's not important. Humans are a strange breed. A heart attack is potentially lethal and that is the bottom line."

The Autobot glanced up briefly and gave a nod as he continued his work, carefully digging out around Attack Beast.

"How are you holding up Beast?" Dante questioned softly.

Best groaned softly in response.

"We'll be out of here soon, just hang in there." Dante urged, flinching at the yelp that was let out from Beast as Brawn pulled back a sheet of metal that was wrapped around Beast, the metal having once been Karr's hood. The Autobot looked a bit disgusted for a moment before it was passed upwards, out of the hole and out of the way.

Within' moments the sight of the black hood had caused a stir with the humans. Particularly Bonnie, who was now calling down the hole, demanding updates. Really, couldn't they tell that it was a Trans-am's hood that had been brought up and not one off of a Ford F-150?

Still though Dante couldn't help the pang of sympathy that went through his systems as he caught the sound of Karr's pained wail. He had forgotten the Trans-am was still active. Rather not forgotten but hoped he had been able to shut himself down. At least to maintain a proper shut down until he was pulled out of the hole. Though it seemed Karr hadn't shut down or had only gone into a general recharge...

"What is Karr's condition? Can you see?" Dante questioned softly, pulling a deep, electronic sigh from Brawn.

"He looks slagged..."

Dante sighed heavily once more and fell silent in his own little tomb, wondering for what seemed like the hundredth time if he could swap out his current Autobot problem for some other Autobot. Brawn was just enough to give him a killer migraine... If that was even possible to an electronic mind.

Beast groaned in pain, pulling Dante to snap at Brawn to be careful. It was certainly going to be a long day...

XXXXXXXXXXX

The dank underwater location of the Nemesis didn't exactly allow for much in the way of anything cheerful or even in the least bit upbeat... The halls were dark but for the low level lighting that was always on, keeping the halls bathed in a soft glow. Much more than that was unnecessary and used a bit to much power for their liking...

Outside it was mid afternoon but for all the sunlight that came in through the windows it could have been well into the evening. At night the water outside was an inky black, but for the barest of glow that came when the moon was at its fullest. When the sun was at its highest in the afternoon of the day it filtered through an eery light throughout he surf and waves. It cast off a blue iridescent glow that in all honesty was rather... Peaceful...

"It's a bit like being at an aquarium..."

Thundercracker silently turned his attention towards Kro, a soft non committing grunt let out. "I suppose... What's an aquarium anyway?"

Kro gave off an electronic sounding chuckle, the black sports car watching the fish slide by the massive bay window he was staring out. "Humans are a bit obsessed with what lay under the depths of the ocean... It's because that's the one place on Earth that it's impossible for them to entirely explore. They have these special types of submarines that can go down deeper than they every could before, but still. It doesn't matter. Every time they go down they see something new. No matter what they do they will never control the ocean. It will always be wild and I think that's what keeps them coming back. They can't control it... But they will try."

Thundercracker was more than a little surprised at the deep thoughts coming from the sports car though he wouldn't comment... The car was a strange one. Soundwave had done an in depth analysis on the car's programming before they ever attempted to wake the thing up. The programming analysis stated that the car had been programmed specifically to serve one human. According to Soundwave that human was most likely the charred remains in the car's driver's seat.

According to Soundwave there was one of two ways things could go down. The programing would change to protect itself resulting in the program latching onto someone to serve as he once had the dead human... Or the programing would go into an unending loop that could not be broken. A paradox of sorts. If that was to happen all of this would have been for nothing. The CPU would have overloaded and blown or at the very least the car would have been uncooperative.

What had happened was the best case scenario he supposed. The car had latched onto Megatron. Kro followed every order to the letter and without question. Something that at first Megatron had been thrilled with.

At first... They hadn't had to tamper with the programing and that was a good thing. However, the car had then started.... Changing... Not so much in leaps. The voice had been the first thing. At first it had been rather flat. They had all heard the voices of human made AI systems before. Flat and computerized. No fluctuation or pitch. Upon first being activated Kro's voice had been deep but it lacked fluctuation. It had been a bit eery... Like a sentient being talking in a very flat manor...

However after a few hours the voice had developed. It had suddenly developed in fluctuation and pitch... If one shut off their optics they would think they were speaking to any transformer. Not the Earth Vehicle that everyone was so worked up about...

That was about the point Megatron started adamantly avoiding the car... Pushing the car off onto anyone else that would even possibly take the thing. Ordering other Decepticons to go keep it busy. Thundercracker half wondered if Megatron still thought taking the car had been such a good idea...

At this point they had put so much time and energy into getting it back online Thundercracker knew without a doubt that Megatron would never back up on the project. Give way for doubt in his leadership ability. He would see it through and when it failed... He would push the blame off onto another of their ranks. Anywhere but the one it started with. Maybe even the car itself even though it was an innocent in this...

Thundercracker had always considered himself to have an open mind... A rarity in Decepticon ranks and he knew it. Personal opinion didn't matter so long as they followed their commander. That was entirely the difference between Decepticons and Autobots at the end of the day.

Decepticons were geared to be military mechs. They were tuned to be fighters. To conquer. To fight. In some bazar way... Even to protect. It's what they were meant for. To protect... The Decepticons had at one point in the history of Cybertron been the first line defense. Defenders of the planet. When there was no longer any threat to the planet they began to spread out. To obey their programing...

After a while their programing drove them to seek out new worlds to defend. Most Decepticons saw it as progress... The Autobots saw it as tyranny... The Decepticon's 'protection' had eventually led to the end of an age.

Destroyed the planet they had loved so much. A bit Ironic really...

"What is that?"

Kro's question shook Thundercracker from his thoughts, the jet silently glancing out the window. "That's a shark I believe. Hammer head. Look... Don't you have this information in your databanks?"

"Well yes and no. I have the information but I'm still having a difficult time accessing it. Aside from that information downloaded is something entirely different from seeing it first hand... This is absolutely spectacular."

Thundercracker couldn't help the chuckle he let out, despite his unwillingness to communicate to much with the Earth thing... "It's just things outside the window. I mean it's water. What's so great about it? It's to heavy and it's horribly annoying."

"And it covers just over a third of the planet. I mean... What if well over half of your own planet was left entirely unexplored. Wouldn't you be curious of it?"

At that Thundercracker really did laugh. He couldn't help it. This Earth car at times was amusing. "Not really. I'm not really the curious type..."

"But you would have to be. Being curious isn't just a trait of being nosey of how something works. Being curious is sometimes a method of survival."

"Yeah... Curious stopped when I started having this conversation with an Earth car..."

Kro paused at Thundercracker's comment, his frame tipping just a bit. That was... Amazing... He had seen Autobots stuck in vehicle form. Even the Stunticons when they were unable to transform for fear of blowing cover. They had little ways of making their emotions known in vehicle form. However, none this extreme. Once given a Decepticon body Kro had begun to figure out how to move it. How to twist it. How to make emotions known without having to transform. Most of that went with the way he held himself.

"So... There's more of you right?"

"That is correct." Kro offered with a quick dip of his prow. "The first was of course Karr. The other Trans-am that was failed to be taken on the night I was brought here."

Thundercracker briefly rolled his optics and nodded. "Yeah, yeah I got that. What others?"

"The first successful vehicle by Knight Industries standards was Kitt. The black Trans-am partnered with Michael Knight."

"Ok so they built a car... It flopped... Then they built another one?"

"That is correct. Kitt was everything they had hoped for in the failed prototype. However, after five years the project was... Understandably outdated. Upon Devon Miles' forced retirement they sought to reform the foundation and what it stood for. Including outdated vehicles."

"So then you came along..." Thundercracker theorized.

"Precisely. However, the foundation was constraining. Martin and I sought freedom from their grasp."

"So you killed five people..." Thundercracker mused slowly.

"Would you not do much the same should your freedom be at risk? Have you not done much the same on your home world of Cybertron to be permitted the freedom to extend your own existence to the stars?"

Thundercracker gave a slight shrug to that. "Eh, maybe. So exactly why did you high tail it out of the Knight Lab?"

"Martin felt threatened. Therefore we sought our freedom."

"Ah... So everything you do revolves around this Martin person?" Thundercracker asked slowly.

"Martin has been deactivated. A very unfortunate event..." Kro's voice had become deathly low with that simple statement. Thundercracker gave a slight shudder and quickly changed the subject.

"So what came next? After you I mean."

"Team Knight Rider. It wasn't meant to be a team at first. At first the Knight Foundation wanted Kyle Stewart. He came very close to being my operative instead of Martin. However when Knight Industries merged with the Foundation of Law and Government they began to greatly dictate over the way things would be run. They felt it to dangerous to entrust so much power with one operative and risk another... Incident... They gave each vehicle certain structural weaknesses that could be used against each vehicle in case of an emergency."

Thundercracker sat up quickly, clearly surprised as he stared at the sports car. "Weaknesses?"

"Of course. Kat and Plato possess faulty fuel lines. Attack Beast a weak rear axil. Domino, being a convertible is obviously very lightly armored. Dante I believe also has a faulty fuel line.... I would have to research him a bit more in depth."

"Is this information that Megatron could use?" Thundercracker questioned softly, not in-particularly wanting any other Decepticons to overhear him even having this conversation with an Earth car...

"Possibly. To you the information would probably be trivial. You see our bodies are not designed to stand up to your weaponry. Therefore why spend time looking for weaknesses in our armor when one shot of your weapon could probably punch right through it. You don't need weaknesses..."

"True..." Thundercracker commented softly, just a bit smug with that information.

"However... I might have something he could use..." Kro offered slowly.

Thundercracker stood came a bit closer and leaned against the wall near the window Kro had been so transfixed with. "What's that Kro?"

"L.A. has a Knight Industries Lab. Since Knight Industries is based in California there's several scattered about the state. Your report said that the accident at the military bunker was rather impressive. If I were an Autobot leader and had several Autobots that were possibly severally hurt I wouldn't want to risk taking them back to Oregon for repairs."

"And if I were Knight Industries who were trying to grain the approval of the Autobots after this little fiasco... I would open up the Knight Labs to the injured Autobots..." Thundercracker finished.

"Precisely."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Look out!"

The warning came very quickly, causing Wheeljack to have to respond quickly and move out of the way as the load of rock that had been on its way up was suddenly dropped. It landed with a clatter across the empty space where Jazz had been. Thankfully since that sudden drop would have most likely caused even more damage to the injured car...

"Thanks Kitt..." Wheeljack muttered softly as he went back to the feeble repairs he was attempting on Smokescreen. The more they unburied the car, the more he didn't like what he was seeing. The damage was rather... Extensive...

As Wheeljack worked Cliffjumper had been lowered down and was working to dig him out. Others were coming and going via the makeshift latter system into the hole but Wheeljack and Cliffjumper's presence had been almost constant for the last several hours.

"How is he Wheeljack?" The question was soft and at the moment Wheeljack dearly wished he had a better answer for it.

"Not well... We really need to get him out of here." He responded, speaking over the sounds of the welding torches that were cutting the beams above them, hopefully leading to Smokescreen's freedom.

"Kitt can I ask ya somethin'?" Wheeljack questioned as he repaired yet another torn fuel line in Smokescreen as more of the downed car came into view.

"Of course Wheeljack."

"Why did you do that whole thing with Karr... Yer superiors aren't exactly singing your praises right now..."

"Hmm... They never are. I'm not exactly a wanted fixture in the Knight Labs. I highly doubt I will be repaired this time without a fight."

Wheeljack's attention snapped up, looking just a bit stunned at the thought. "Of course they'll repair you."

"Care to place a wager on that Wheeljack?"

Wheeljack shuddered again, and went back to his repairs on Smokescreen. "Beside the point... So what about Karr?"

"I suppose I did what I did because I feel for him. After all he is the closest relation I have to a sibling. I also have to wonder... You are aware of the reports from the lab the first night he was reactivated correct?"

"Yep. Michael told me about it." Wheeljack responded as he patched another fuel line back together on Smokescreen.

"I always wondered... What would have happened if we had found Karr before those two hooligans... What would have happened if we were just fifteen minutes earlier... Or if Michael's date had been canceled..."

"How do you know it would have made any difference at all?" Wheeljack pointed out softly.

"I don't know if it would have. However, he would have been given a chance to turn his life around, rather than the entire foundation attempting to shut him down before he has a chance to say otherwise."

Wheeljack sighed and nodded a bit as he considered that. "True but-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off abruptly as an unearthly shriek cut through the air, causing the already fragile walls to tremble just a it, dust and rock raining down on them.

Wheeljack fell silent along with Kitt as they stared up at the dim light above them, the fading sun, not offering much in way of light, now starting to be supplemented by the flood lights brought in by the Autobots.

"What in the pits was that?" Wheeljack questioned slowly, gaining a slight shudder from Kitt.

"It sounds like they're lifting someone else out..."

Wheeljack flinched and gave a quick nod, quickly moving to their make shift latter system and moving his way out of the tunnel, leaving Cliffjumper to keep digging Smokescreen out as he took a look to see what was up.

Up above was like an entirely different world. Mechs moved here and there attempting to move dirt and rock and occasional heavy equipment out of the way. That had been an issue with Beast and Dante's group. In the process of finding them they had been forced to dig around a large crane. Which was now coming back to haunt them as they had been forced to dig the crane out before they really got to a point where they could safely lift the damaged AI's out.

The source of that Unearthly scream was made very clear within' moments. A wench had been employed and slowly a vehicle was being lifted out of the pit that had been dug out around them. It was difficult to say who or what it had been.... But after a few moments of staring at the mangled heap it became clear that it had once been a Trans-am.

Wheeljack gave a slight flinch and quickly ducked back in the hole he had been working in as another agonized shriek came from the wrecked heap that was Karr.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"'hat 'rong wit 'im?"

Dante sighed heavily as his attention turned back over to Attack Beast. He felt a little like he was truck sitting at this point. Karr had ben wrapped around the two of them, so after digging as much as they could out it was becoming more and more clear... Karr had to be taken out first before they were going anywhere. That unfortunately had involved a lot of cutting since Karr's frame had nearly wrapped itself around theirs... Apparently very little to no armor had been put on the spots car.

Attack Beast had been the lucky one.... He had been blissfully unaware through most of the process of cutting through Karr to get him unhooked from the other two. They more they had been forced to cut, the louder Karr's screams of agony and terror had gotten until it had become unbearable.

However, thus far Beast seemed rather unaffected. Which worried Dante. Worried him that there was something truly wrong with his team mate who at the moment didn't seem to realize just how much trouble they were in.

"He was buried remember Beast? His frame wrapped around ours."

"Oh...." Best muttered, sounding more than a little tired.

"Dante!"

Dante's attention turned upward, relief sweeping through him as he spotted the dark outline of Bonnie Barstow.

"Dante we're bringing Best up next. I just need you to sit tight a little while longer."

"Very well Dr. Barstow!" Dante called upward, causing the young woman to smile as she disappeared again.

"Beast did you hear that? You're next." Dante explained to the truck, who didn't seem to be to worried about it. Brawn had come back at some point, kneeling down beside the truck as he took a firm grasp on the metal shard sticking its way out of Beast's hood.

"Brawn?" Bonnie's voice rang out as she leaned over the edge of the pit, gazing down into the darkness that still contained two four wheel drive vehicles, rather well stuck in the dirt so to speak. "I need you to keep that metal shard absolutely still when we pull him out understand?"

"Gotcha!" Brawn called back, looking just a bit sour as he positioned himself at the truck's side, a firm grasp taken on the shard, as he carefully settled himself on the back bed of the truck. Beast's shocks groaned in protest but otherwise upheld the extra weight. Behind Brawn one of the other Autobots that Dante absolutely could not for the life of him identify lowered himself down... Huff something... He knew that much of the mech. Otherwise he had absolutely no idea who the other was who had jumped down into their cozy little pit and began strapping the sling to Beast and Brawn. A lift would be used to lift Brawn out of the hole at the same time that Beast was, to allow the weight to be taken off of the injured truck as they made their very careful way out.

As the lift began to move, the rope slowly tightened until the sling hitched its way around Brawn. Slowly Brawn began to lift, Beast soon after, the two able to keep together as the sling began lifting the massive black truck with a tense sounding groan of straining metal links of the chains that were doing the work to lift the heavy load.

Dirt rained down on Dante's hood as Beast's frame would lift up off the ground and slowly make his way up the shaft and into the light of day, his frame shuddering under the weight it was under as Brawn kept his position, holding the shard of metal absolutely still.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Prime heaved a deep electronic sigh as they stepped up the pace on the dig site. Now that the human life had been taken out of the dangerous equation things were running along a bit more smoothly but that didn't mean it was any more or less dangerous. The rig they had thrown together to help with lifting their fallen team mates from the dirt was shoddy to say the least. However, it seemed to be doing the job.

The reports of exactly what they were dealing with were starting to filter their way through. Jazz had lost a lot of energon and it had taken it's drain on him... However, he was told when it came right down to it that because of the placement of the damage, while Beast had probably taken the least structural damage, he was the worse off among the others. Kitt they felt had made it out of the cave in pretty well in tact. His MBS had held up and not including some minor structural damage he was no worse for the wear. Kitt was in fact talking and very alert down there. Dante was much the same though he had suffered heavy structural damage. His passenger compartment was filled to the roof with rock and dirt. If Kyle had been inside the vehicle he would not have made it through the cave in. Something that rest in the back of the mind of all.

Smokescreen was about in the same condition of Jazz. A lot of structural damage and was losing energon fast... However at the moment it was more dangerous to move him considering the rather unstable balance of rock and dirt hanging over him. Wheeljack had made several trips back and forth with more energon to give to the failing Autobot.

"Prime?" The autobot leader glanced upward as Prowl approached, a slow nod of acknowledgement offered before his second in command went on as he had known he would.

"They're about to lift Attack Beast out of the ground."

Prime heaved out a deep electronic sigh. Beast was the second to be lifted out and by far the one in the most immediate danger. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to look.

The rig they had thrown together started to move, lifting the black truck up out of the hole slowly. There was a low groaning sound from the crane that was doing most of the work that drove Ironhide and Hound into stepping forward, the two boxy mechs backing up the load that was being pulled out.

"Funny, I didn't know Earth vehicles were that heavy..." Prowl mused softly, gaining a nod of agreement from Prime. That made two of them... Though the reason for it was obvious in a few moments as Brawn's head popped up over the ridge of the hole the minibot seeming to almost be straddling the massive truck as he was lifted up. Prime gave a slight flinch as they pulled Beast over and let him set on the ground. Like a flood the dirt that had been packed inside his cab from a shattered back window shifted and spilled out as Bonnie reached over and opened the driver's side door. Brawn kept absolutely still as Bonnie did a quick assessment.

The sight of Attack Beast caused Prime to visibly cringe. A shard of steel had come down hard on the center of his hood and drove itself through until it had apparently pinned him to the ground. According to the work crew it had taken a bit of moving to get him to where they could move him at all. However, that was hardly the worst of it. Beast and Karr had obviously been pushed together during the cave in. Part of Beast's door panels had crumpled inward under an intense pressure... Which at the moment had a black fender stuck in the open 'wound' like tear in the metal that had been created. Despite their best efforts half of Karr had come up with Attack Beast.

From their vantage point they could see Brawn protest something or other, a protest that was cut off with a glare from Bonnie. Without another word Beast was lifted up again and dropped into place on the trailer he would be traveling on... Brawn and all... Now that was going to be interesting to see on the six o'clock news...

"That's going to draw attention..." Prowl mused, voicing the opinion that Prime had been mulling over in his mind.

"Well technically I suppose we could send extra security with them." Prime mused, not particularly wanting to bring on the wrath of Dr. Barstow again. Once or twice when the cause had been what was to become of her 'baby' was more than enough...

Dr. Barstow yelled out an order or two from where she was, the small human ducking down on the trailer and sliding underneath attack Beast even as the trailer began to move. Duke hurried up alongside, hopping onto the trailer before it picked up much speed, likewise sliding between Beast's tires to help with whatever it was Bonnie was doing, apparently the two riding with the truck and his Autobot companion...

Prime quickly stepped forward towards the group, his approach met with a harsh glare from Bonnie as workers rushed to strap Attack Beast in for the ride.

"Optimus I already know what you're argument in this is going to be." Bonnie threw in almost immediately. "However, I can't allow Beast's injuries to be made any worse than they already are. This... Thing..." Bonnie mused pointing vaguely to the shard of steel cutting through Beast's hood. "Can't move so much as an inch one way or the other without making things worse."

Prime chuckled softly, head nodding briefly. "I'm well aware of that. I was only going to suggest a security escort. Especially with the consideration of Decepticons in the area..."

Bonnie gave a nod, hopping up onto the trailer beside Beast as she gestured to the road. "Sounds good to me, we've gotta go" She called, the group she had already gathered moving out as one. Prime quickly radioed Bluestreak to head out with them, his attention falling back to the task at hand. Knight Industries did seem to have their own hold on things... Nothing really escaped them...

By the time he glanced back to the pits there was another round of commotion as Dante was slowly pulled from the Earth. Dirt and rock flowed from the SUV, causing him to highly resemble nothing but wreckage even as he was set down on a trailer and which quickly pulled off again as the driver tried to catch up to Beast's caravan and keep the two Knight Industries vehicles together.

Dante wasn't the worst off of the group but at the current moment he certainly looked it...

Prime slowly headed back to his position in the pits, watching the proceedings and directing the process, one more Autobot and two more Knight Industries vehicles still close at mind... Most of Knight Industries had broken up by now but for the few remaining drivers. Michael stood off to the side, nervously awaiting the appearance of his partner. Not far from him Jenny and Dominio sat together watching the proceedings. Both Duke and Kyle had gone with the caravan that had just pulled out, anxious to be with their partners again.

There was a small burst of commotion near the pit they had pulled Dante and Attack Beast from, a mini bot hoisting up a small black box from the wreckage.

Karr...

XXXXXXXXXXX

Michael jerked his head up at a sudden commotion that once more split the air. For a moment he thought they might be pulling Kitt out... Though it came from the wrong pit... His blood ran cold a the sight of the black box one of the smaller Autobots held up. He hurried over, a frown deeply set across his lips.

He knew the box... Kitt had one exactly like it. Karr's CPU. Obviously the rest of his body hadn't been salvageable. Bonnie had been careful to explain how to remove the CPU without damaging it if needed. Still it was a little disturbing... He was a little thankful Kitt wasn't around to see it...

A mini bot he couldn't remember the name of pushed the CPU into his hands as the attention of the Autobots swept in it's entirety to the other pit. For a brief rushing moment Michael felt the overwhelming urge to crush the fragile box... The box wasn't meant to go through much.

It was meant to have a couple hundred pounds of Sports Car protecting it. The walls of the CPU were frail and delicate. It was a miracle Karr was still active. It would be nothing to crush the CPU and Karr would be gone.

Hell a single bullet through the casing would affectively shatter the memory chips... They had done it before to a rogue AI... Once... It would be so easy to erase the problem. Knight Industries certainly wouldn't argue his choice. The dirty work that no one actually wanted to do... The only one who would really have an issue with it would MAYBE be the Autobots and.... Kitt...

He sighed heavily and stared down at the fragile black box in his hands. A soft chirping sound echoed from it in a series of pops and clicks as the CPU struggled to cool and Karr possibly struggled to communicate. Out of fear possibly... Karr certainly didn't do helpless well...

With a deep sigh Michael tucked the CPU safely into the folds of his leather jacket and made his way back to where Prime was standing. They certainly needed a plan of where to go from there. Behind him an electronic yelp of pain was let loose as they began pulling Smokescreen from the confines of the pit. Kitt would be next... They had been unable to move the Trans-am in fear of bringing more dirt down on Smokescreen who by far was the worse off. Now that Smokescreen had been dug out they could lift Kitt up out of the pit.

"Michael"

Attention quickly turned from the pits to Prime as he made his way over to where the two giant Autobots were standing. To a human standing between the feet of Prime and Prowl it was more than a little intimidating. Still though he nodded and made his way over, Karr's CPU buzzing against his side.

"I believe now it is time to consider, what is to be done with the rogue AI's CPU." Prime reasoned softly, gaining a slow nod from Michael.

"Well when you're right, you're right... The truth is I just don't know Prime... Whatever we do it will have to be done with permission from the foundation... That's going to be hard to get..."

Prime was silent for a long moment as he glanced out across the field. Smokescreen was being loaded onto a waiting trailer and rolled away. Full attention was now turned to getting Kitt out of the pit he had been buried in.

It was a slow process... Loads of dirt were pulled up and another rope was tossed down to stabilize the Knight Industries vehicle.

"This must be difficult for you to watch Mr. Knight..." Prime ventured after a while. To his surprise Michael chuckled softly.

"Kitt's been in trouble before... I've always been in trouble with him... He's been completely buried like this before once to. I was with him that time to... It's not difficult for me to watch, but it is difficult for me not to be down there with him. Just as scared and just as ready to get out of yet another tight spot..."

Prime let out a rumbling chuckle and nodded in some amount of understanding as the rescue teams slowly started lifting Kitt from his temporary tomb. The Trans-am fidgeted a little as he was lifted out of the hole, anxious to be on solid ground again. He even seemed a little irritated when he was moved right from the hole in the ground to one of the flat bed trailers.

Michael grinned happily and quickly jogged towards the Trans-am, hopping up onto the flat bed as soon as he was close enough. "Kitt! Good to see ya again buddy!"

"Likewise Michael" Kitt offered with a tired thread to his voice. "I was starting to think I wouldn't be seeing you again."

Michael heaved out a deep sigh of relief at the sound of Kitt's voice and gave the car's hood an affectionate pat. "Likewise buddy..."

"Michael... Is that who I think it is?" Michael gave a slight blink and glanced down at the bulge in his jacket, a slow nod given as he uncovered the fragile little box that was Karr.

"What is to be done with him?" Kitt questioned slowly, pulling a deep sigh from Michael. "I honestly don't know... First off we need to get you cleared out. Then we'll decide what to do with Karr."

"Michael..." Kitt started, though a reassuring pat from his driver for the moment silenced the Trans-am as Karr's CPU was abruptly slid into Kitt's driver's seat.

"Don't worry so much partner. You'll drive yourself into an early grave."

Kitt let out an exasperated sigh as Michael hopped down from the flat bed, so that the sports car could be strapped down for travel. "Really Michael... Did you have to say grave?"

A rumbling laugh shook the two from their brief reunion, Michael's attention turning upward as Prime's shadow loomed over them. "Michael... As much as it pains me to interrupt Bonnie wished me to pass along a message from Knight Industries. However, I hope you have better luck of understanding it..."

Michael gave a slight blink and nodded a bit, twisting around to face the Autobot leader. "Well I can certainly try. What's the message?"

"Dr. Barstow says that the queen of the underworld has landed in Knight Industries and has currently taken over..." Prime reported with a somewhat confused note to his face. Michael only groaned and scrubbed at his face with one hand.

"Jennifer... Alright... We'd best get over there before she starts turning things to stone with that icy thing she calls a heart." Michael muttered, quickly sliding into Kitt's cabin, Karr's CPU safely held on his lap.

Prime gave another puzzled expression and simply gestured to the rest of his Autobots to fall in as the last Knight Semi rumbled to life, quietly pulling out of the pit that had been a place of hell for the past few hours. A few Autobots were left behind to fix things and give the appearance nothing had ever happened, though for the most part, they were leaving the tomb behind them.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Moonlight was flooding 'cross the dessert in a flood of silver by the time a shadowy vehicle topped the overcrop, overlooking the Knight Industries research facility. Normally the facility was near devoid of life but now it seemed to be buzzing with activity. Lights dotted here and there, robotic life forms milling around and waiting for instructions as their comrades were pieced back together. A plane had taken off earlier with several Autobots on board, heading for destinations unknown... Most likely back to Oregon, leaving a basic crew behind in L.A.

"Well?"

The question caused the Ferrari to give off a brief shudder, a scanner directed back to his companions. Of course they had placed him with the Stunticons... Where else would a bunch of air born sky jockeys place a land crawler. Of course said Stunticons also had a way of grating on Kro's last nerve as well...

"This is a Knight Industries Facility. I can give the floor plans though I do not suggest we attack the facility itself..."

"Then why are we here?" Motormaster demanded, drawing out a deep sigh from Kro.

"We need a little leverage..." Kro muttered almost to himself as he scanned what once had been his home. He wasn't entirely sure himself why he had decided to come to Knight Industries first... He knew damn well it would be better to catch one of them going back and forth between ground zero as it was called and Knight Industries... However, for the moment he couldn't tear himself away...

"What kind of leverage?" Motormaster pressed, pulling a soft growl from Kro.

"That kind..." He muttered softly, electronic sigh released as he watched a stretch limo slowly pull up to Knight Industries. From the back seat a long legged woman slowly unfolded herself from the seat, and stood up, quickly checking her reflection in the mirror as if her image alone would fix all problems...

"That is Jennifer Knight." Kro reported slowly. "Wilton Knight's daughter. I managed to tap into the data base and gain the information that Devon Miles is currently out of service. Therefore, she will have been sent to take his place."

"We're after AI's not human scum." Motormaster snapped harshly, pulling a sigh from Kro.

"You fail to see the bigger picture... Besides that you have your mission and I have my own... There's something I need to take care of at Knight Industries. I have plotted a course between ground zero and Knight Industries. All you have to do is follow it. The last caravans should be approaching. I would suggest you meet them at the juncture I have marked." Kro muttered softly as he let his engine roar to life.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Motormaster demanded, causing Kro to give off a soft chuckle.

"To level the playing field." Was the only answer he got as the sports car disappeared into the night, leaving the Stunticons to carry on alone.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Prime resisted the urge to speed up into the dessert and stretch his tires a bit as L.A. began to thin out and the dessert opened up before them. The trailer up ahead rattled on into the night, it's deep engine steady and soothing as the last of the caravan trudged on.

"Prime, my sensors are picking up something coming our way."

Prowl's voice caused Prime to slow just a bit, his own scans widening a bit to take in more of the dessert, abruptly on guard with his second's soft warning. "What do you have Prowl?"

"Two vehicles coming our way... They're to far out to tell just what they are yet."

"Alright... Keep your scanners peeled..." No sooner than the words were out did the tail lights Prime had been keeping track of just ahead abruptly brighten as the breaks were applied. Prime's muttered softly to himself as he hit the breaks himself, forced to lock down as he skidded a few feet, the semi in front of him going from applied breaks to locked breaks in a matter of seconds.

"Prime! Decepticons!" Prowl's voice rang out from right behind him as Prime launched into action, quickly transforming. Of course it was... It couldn't have been simple after all...

Ahead of them on the trailer Kitt gave a shiver, the vehicles up ahead coming on fast. Prime rolled his way around the semi in front of him, getting a good look at the oncoming vehicles before launching forward. Prowl took right flank, Bluestreak right behind him on left. Stunticons...

The Stunticons seemed to mimic their positions, Motormaster taking point, Dead End and Drag Strip taking flanks. This had the prospect of turning out... Rather disastrous...

The Knight Industries Semi slowly backed up as Stunticons and Autobots met up. Prime transformed mid run, to launch himself at Motormaster, the others following suit. The unarmed Semi wisely decided it was best if it took cover.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Kro what the pits are you doing?"

If he could have he would have rolled his eyes. As it was Kro simply stood his ground, overlooking Knight Industries. "Megatron is furious! You were suppose to stick with the Stunticons, not chicken out of the battle!"

Again with the tone...

"I chickened out of nothing as you put it." Kro muttered quietly.

"Then what are you still doing here?"

Thundercracker probably meant well... Probably... He was almost certain that the seeker had been sent out to make certain Kro didn't screw up. He was being tested. Given little tasks to do. Megatron wanted Karr. Rather Megatron wanted any AI that Knight Industries already had up and running.

Kro's directives were a little different... He wanted revenge... He wanted Knight Industries to suffer... Before it was simply James Marland he wanted to suffer. Slowly and painfully if it was at all possible... Though one run in with Team Knight Rider was more than enough to teach him a valued lesson... FLAG was the true source. The the vehicles would fall... Beneath FLAG sat a foundation. Knight Industries...

In order to bring down Knight Industries he would have to be just a bit more clever... Others had tried and failed... He wasn't about to make the mistake of being to egotistical and deny the possibility that he could fail as well. That was how others before him had fallen.

Thundercracker let out a soft, irritated sound from deep in his vocals, and silently flopped down beside Kro. "So exactly what are you trying to accomplish?"

"Knight Industries is a larger obstacle than your leader thinks. He never should have involved them in the war."

"You know you can be accused of treason with thoughts like that..." Thundercracker muttered nervously.

"I'm no more guilty of treason than you..." Kro mused.

Thundercracker gave a rather irritated look, opening his mouth to ask him what the hell he meant by that, but Kro was already on the move. "I do believe our opening will be soon."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I want to know exactly what is taking so long!"

Ratchet flinched under the piercing voice of Jennifer Knight, a brief sigh released. He never looked away from his patient and for the first time in a good long while he found himself fighting off the urge to throw a wrench at a human. He ignored that piercing voice and worked instead on Jazz as the Techs looked at each other, searching for an answer.

She wanted Michael and for some reason felt he should have been there already, despite the fact they hadn't yet dug Kitt out of the ground to his knowledge...

Why she expected Michael to be here when Kitt wasn't was beyond him.

She had originally come into the garage looking for Bonnie. However, finding Bonnie nowhere in sight... She had launched into one of the Tech's wanting to know of Michael's current location. He wasn't even going to bother to mention that Bonnie had known she was coming and had therefore moved her much more delicate project over to a neighboring Garage.

"What in the pits Ratch?"

Rachet frowned down into Jazz's exposed engine and shrugged just a bit. The amount of damage in the saboteur had been extensive. So much so that Ratchet simply hadn't been comfortable with letting Jazz transform. He had already torn into the Autobot the stupidity of transforming while they had been underground and already he was finding damage that could have very well been avoided if he hadn't been stupid enough to transform while damaged.

"I don't know Jazz... I have one preceptor nerve left and that human is hitting it repeatedly..."

"Excuse me!" Ratchet flinched, like a dog who had heard a sound that didn't agree with him and turned his attention to said human who was making her way quickly across the garage area, head held aloft and a rather sour look on her face.

"Where is Dr. Barstow?" Again with that high pitched and demanding voice... Really Ratchet supposed he could have very well told her... Though respect for a fellow medic would push him to simply smile and shrug.

"I'm sorry Ms. Knight. I haven't seen her. Have you tried lab 4?"

From his position so close to Jazz Ratchet caught the barest fragments of a faint chuckle from the injured Autobot. They had all witnessed Jennifer Knight going to the Techs. They had all asked her the same question. Have you checked lab 4? Of course Bonnie was no where near that lab but it seemed like a good enough response...

"You and I both know that lab 4 is empty no where is she?" The response was clipped and Ratchet couldn't help but chuckle despite the fact he wanted to squish the human and be done with it.

"Ma'am I can assure you that if it were an Autobot you were looking for I would be able to tell you but I have not yet memorized all of the names of Knight Employees let alone where one of them are."

Jennifer gave the Autobot Medic a rather sour look and turned on a heel, heading off to other parts of the garage.

"Well she's irritating..." Jazz muttered softly, gaining a nod from Ratchet.

"Tell me about it... Why is she here anyway?"

"To take over from Devon." Ratchet's attention snatched to the side with a puzzled look as Trek came up beside him, his attention riveted onto a clip board. "She's here because Knight Industries has been trying to retire Devon for years and now that he's incapacitated they're throwing forward one of their own... Bonnie hates her so she stays out of her way, and the AI's would rather just ignore the fact that she exists... Anyway I'm finished going over Dante. If you need an extra hand I can help."

"Is he alright?" Ratchet questioned, silently directing Trek to where he needed an extra hand. He highly suspected Trek had been sent in to get a good look at transformer anatomy though he for one wouldn't scold him on it. He half wanted a good look at the anatomy of one of the Knight vehicles...

"Mhmm, he'll pull through. Some of his sensors were damaged and need to be replaced, which will take a little bit of time for us to get the parts in. It was mostly structural damage. Those parts should be in within' the next few days. Until then he's going to be running on half code sensors."

"How about the other one? The truck that was damaged?" Ratchet questioned as he patched up yet another damaged fuel line.

"I don't know... Bonnie called in a team of technicians. They're still working on him."

"Then why aren't you in there helping her?" Ratchet questioned, glancing up from what he was doing though pretty sure he already knew the answer.

Trek only grinned and shrugged. "Think you already know. I'll admit I'm a little curious, though with Beast down both me and Bonnie would rather my services be focused on Attack Beast. The board is holding Kitt over her head... They won't allow the proper repairs for Kitt unless I try and sneak a peak at anatomy 101 Autobot style."

Ratchet briefly flickered his optics in a form of a slight blink. He had already known that but to hear the young human state it so frankly had thrown him off a bit.

"Hmm, well lean in a little closer." Ratchet stated after a few minutes and quietly went on with his work. Trek gave a soft chuckle and leaned in. Who ever said honesty wasn't the best policy?

"Get the hell out of this garage!"

Ratchet glanced up with a deep frown as Bonnie's voice cut through the already tense air, pulling the attention of human and Autobot medics alike.

"You self centered, self obsessed, little Bitch!"

Trek cleared his throat and quickly ducked down behind Jazz's battered form. He wasn't looking forward to hearing whatever all this was about....

"Bonnie, don't shoot the messenger. I came because-"

"You came because you're a coward and a lying.... Hell I don't even know what you are, but you're a piece of work! Devon is sick! He's not dying!"

"Ladies!" Ratchet bellowed over the yelling, a frown crossing his face plates.

"Guess they found each other." Jazz quipped out of the blue, pulling a chuckle from Trek.

Jennifer fell silent for a moment, a glance cast around the room and abruptly turned on a heel. "I'm just a messenger Bonnie. It is the way it's going to be though. If you need to reach me you know how."

Bonnie glared at the door as Jennifer marched out, a slow shake of her head given. The garage fell to absolute silence as the garage door swung closed again with a soft thump, shattered when Bonnie abruptly threw her wrench at the door. The resulting clang caused the majority of those gathered to give a startled jump.

"Dr. Barstow..." Ratchet started slowly, his voice calm and level as he approached the fuming human. "Is their a valid reason you're throwing things around an infirmary type situation.

Bonnie's death glare was cast away from the door and redirected to Ratchet. The Autobot medic didn't even flinch. He met Bonnie's death glare with a very effective one of his own. Her arms crossed in front of her and Ratchet mimicked the gesture, a deep frown crossing his face plates.

Finally it was Ratchet that broke the deafening silence. "What's wrong Dr. Barstow?"

Bonnie's glare deepened just a bit as she abruptly turned on a heel, heading back into the room she had been so carefully working on Beast. Ratchet sighed and followed closely behind, easily keeping pace with the much smaller human. "Dr. Barstow I asked you a question."

"And I didn't supply an answer!" Was the snappy come back. Ratchet groaned and persisted his 'hunt' ducking into the neighboring garage after her and closing the door. The scene of the garage wasn't exactly a pleasant one. Beast had been shut off line for the time being. A blessing for the truck... They rather effectively dissected the massive black vehicle in order to work around those important internal components that affected the way the CPU could manipulate it's vehicular body.

"Dr. Barstow!"

Once in the quiet of the garage she spun back to Ratchet with a glare. "It's really not your concern Ratchet."

"Oh when it involves my infirmary it is my concern and don't give me that look. I'm the chief medic and as long as there is an Autobot here it is my infirmary. Now... What's going on?"

Bonnie heaved a sigh and flopped down on one of the many benches. "They want to cut Kitt's funding..."

Ratchet stared at her for a few minutes, not a clue what she was even talking about. That face registered once he cleared his throat, suggesting Bonnie go on into a little more depth.

"With the AI's... They're computers. Very, very, very expensive computers... They need parts... They need maintenance. They need techs and fuel and new components when they go bad... I mean... Beast alone this time around managed to do well over eight hundred thousand dollars worth of damage to himself. If we have to rebuild the entire truck it'll be much more than that. The AI's are expensive... Kitt was considered obsolete years ago. He's still the cutting edge but when it comes down to what makes him tick... It's getting a little difficult to actually manage to find the parts. The newer models are so much more... Sophisticated and advanced... Knight Industries doesn't want to fund any more repairs for Kitt... They're not decommissioning him yet... Though I get the feeling that won't be far away... Sooner or later he's going to need repairs. We can't afford to do it..."

Ratchet frowned deeply and knelt down next to the bench. "They wouldn't let him die Bonnie. I know of no part of your government that would allow a sentient being to die."

Bonnie sighed and gave a shrug. "Knight Industries isn't the government. Besides that, the AI's are not considered sentient. Though for now... That's the least of our troubles. Jennifer just took over all Knight Industries related activities until Devon is well enough to continue."

Ratchet gave a slow nod to that, a thoughtful frown given. "Could be worse than that though correct? It will give your boss time to heal."

Bonnie flinched and gave a slight nod. "Have you met Jennifer?"

"Most unpleasant woman..." Ratchet responded, earning a smirk from Bonnie.

"That would be her."

The Autobot chuckled softly, his head tilting a bit in Beast's direction. "How is he?"

"Could be worse... Could be much worse... He was lucky. His CPU is actually sitting on top of the shard that went through him. The casing was actually scratched and somehow he's for the most part undamaged in any way that counts."

"Anything I can do?"

Bonnie shook her head with a deep sigh. "Unfortunately no... I have to work through this mess on my own. I even threw most of the techs out."

Ratchet chuckled lightly, a slow nod given as he slowly stood up. "So who is this... Jennifer person anyway...."

"Jennifer Knight." Bonnie explained slowly, turning around on the Bench so that she faced Beast, using the time to get another look at the massive truck. "Daughter of the late Wilton Knight. Also one of our supporters believe it or not... Still though she's always been difficult to deal with and a little two faced. She will support Kitt so long as she's talking to Devon. It doesn't seem to suite her anymore. These days the fact that Kitt is still active is just a problem to her."

"Your culture is both violent and confusing." Ratchet muttered flatly, pulling a chuckle from Bonnie.

"Ratchet my friend... You have no idea..."

XXXXXXXXXXX

No one could ever say that an AI had any kind of issue where patients was concerned. Hours could crawl by and Kro wouldn't have minded. After all he was one who had been designed to sit in a parking lot for hours at a time.

He was one who was built on the premiss that he would spend most of his life sitting in a parking lot and waiting for his driver to accomplish whatever tasks were set before him. Now... He would never wait for his driver again.

The thought was more than a little depressing. However, it was one he could cope with given the tasks set before him.

Down below in the valley that was the Knight Industries parking lot, he watched the still and silent form of a stretch limo...

The hours he had spent, silent atop the ridge were rewarded the moment he finally spotted his current target. Jennifer Knight marched across the parking lot with a sour look etched across her face.

"Kro..." The Ferrari sighed heavily, his attention turning back to the proverbial thorn in his side. "Thundercracker if you don't want to be here, fly away."

"Your task is to tail the Stunticons and learn. Not to go off on your own little witch hunt..."

"I know what my task is. Fortunately I have the foresight to see outside of the box Thundercracker. Despite what your leader might think, I am not an imbecile."

"He never said you were." Thundercracker pointed out, quickly following the sports car as it started out.

"Enough Thunder. Watch and learn." Kro pointed out flatly, speeding up as the Limo pulled away. He kept with it, tailing the dark vehicle away from the complex. Thundercracker cursed softly, unable to follow nearly as easily as Kro could. He was forced to remain hidden, letting Kro slip through his grasp for the moment rather than force the issue in such an Autobot heavy area.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Gerald, get me the board of directors... If it's possible get me Devon Miles. Perhaps I can talk some sense into him."

"Yes Ms. Knight."

Jennifer Knight sighed deeply as she leaned back in the plush leather seats of the limo eyes closed against the harsh light of the midday California sun. She truly did hate it when things didn't turn out the way she had planned them... It was as if the entire world had gone absolutely mad.

She was still fuming over her misfortunes when the harsh light of the midday sun abruptly stopped, a short startled cry from her driver bringing her out of her thoughts.

She was thrown to the side as the wheel snatched, the front of the limo burying itself in the ditch along the side of the road, causing Jennifer to pitch forward onto the unforgiving floor. Dazed and confused she sat up, her driver's continued cry of panic not truly registering into her mind. Therefore, she was shocked when her door was not only opened but pulled from the car entirely and an unforgiving vice like contraption plucked her out of the safety of the limo.

It was only once her head cleared again a few moments later did a few things register in her mind. First, her driver was a coward... He was currently making his way very quickly across the desert. Second, the vice was not a vice. It was a hand... A very large metallic hand that was currently holding her about sixty or so feet off the ground. Third, the hand was connected to a very tall and very angry looking robot.

She squeaked softly in terror, trembling as the hand deposited her onto the flat surface of the monster's other hand.

"Jennifer Knight I presume?" It questioned softly, causing her to balk just a bit. That voice sounded vaguely familiar though she couldn't for the life of her place it.

"Yes..." She responded tentatively, only to let out another panicked scream as she suddenly dropped. Like an elevator going down way to quickly the hand lowered her down to the ground until it was resting softly in the dirt. "I am trusting you not to run Ms. Knight. The consequences will not prove well for either of us should I have to chase you down."

With a slow nod Jennifer stepped off of the hand and onto the dirt, her gaze unable to tear away from the robot as it began to fold and contort, changing shape until it reformed itself into the black, low set form of a Ferrari.

"Kro!" She abruptly blurted out, tripping over herself as she back peddled quickly.

"Why Ms. Knight. You remember me! I'm touched." Kro offered simply, his driver's side door popping open. "I would like a word with you Ms. Knight. Might I remind you that attempting to run away is a futile effort that will only cause both of us to be irritated with each other."

Jennifer bit down on her lower lip and glassed out across the desert. In the distance she could see her driver still running... Kro could probably make it to him in a few seconds... What chance did she stand?

She started out across the plains, weighing her options.

Kro spotted her hesitation and chuckled softly. "I can run you over out there Ms. Knight."

"But you can shoot me with a laser inside there I'm told."

"True... Though I wouldn't. I would never be able to get the pieces of you out of my interior. Most unpleasant. No if I wanted to kill you I would run you over. A simple run through a car wash and all the unpleasantries are over. Why would I coax you into something just to kill you in a way that would make things difficult for myself when I could just as easily do it another way?"

She cringed and rethought her options. He was right... The logic there was more than a little twisted but he was right. If she wanted to get out of this it was best to play nice for now. Somewhat defeated she heaved out a low sigh and slid into the driver's seat.

"No need for dramatics Ms. Knight."

"What do you want?" Jennifer demanded, drawing out a low chuckle from Kro. The sound was a disturbing one. It always had been...

"Ms. Knight I've come to learn something in the short time I've been a part of this world. One is that you can trust no one. Two is that just when you think you might be happy your world changes. Three... Is that people like you only understand two things. Money and power. I'm willing to offer you the chance for both."

"I have money." Jennifer pointed out flatly. "As well as power."

"You want more. You wouldn't be so interested in the Knight Project if not. Aside from that you can't lie to a computer. Both are dwindling down..."

Jennifer narrowed her eyes a bit, a frown crossing her features. "You hacked into my personal files."

"Is that surprising Ms. Knight? If it is, I may have overestimated you..."

"No... Not surprising. Just a little insulting. Those files were private."

To her surprise Kro laughed at that. Not that dark chuckle she remembered so well while he was being built and first bonded to Martin. A wild, somewhat insane sounding laugh that sent a chill down her spine. The AI had truly lost it... Worse yet she was sitting in the driver's seat more or less helpless to the thing's whims.

"Ms. Knight you must understand" Kro went on once he had sobered just a bit, "To an AI nothing is private. Honestly you humans are to modest about some things..."

Jennifer sighed deeply and nodded. "Get to the point."

"There is something standing in your way. There are certain things I can do for you. I am not a bad ally to have in your corner Ms. Knight."

Jennifer frowned and gave a slow nod, her gaze shifting to the voice modulator mounted on the dash. The leads fluctuated with the tones and pitch of Kro's voice as they did with every AI she had ever known...

"I highly doubt you would take care of my problems out of charity Kro. There must be something in it for you..."

"Highly astute Ms. Knight. Yes there would be something in it for me."

Jennifer frowned as she leaned back, thinking back on all the reports she had read on the AI projects. She made it a point to know what was going on in the lives of her father's pet projects. "James"

"Oh now I'm impressed Ms. Knight. You are rather perceptive."

"You think I'm going to help you in the death of someone who was once a dear friend of my father's?" Jennifer pressed after a moment.

"Oh don't be so simple Ms. Knight you're better than that. Martin wanted him dead. I loved my driver, but he never could see outside the box..."

Slowly the woman nodded, a frown playing 'cross her lips. "You want to see him suffer."

"Oh now you are truly being perceptive. Bravo."

"I could do without the condescending tones Kro. Just what did you have in mind and what makes you think I'm willing to do anything for you?"

To that Kro laughed again. Again that wild and somewhat insane sounding laugh. Jennifer shivered and sank back just a bit deeper into the plush leather. The AI sounded rational, though all she had to do was hear that wild laugh to know just how highly disturbed it actually was.

"You have something I want..."

"What keeps you from gaining the power you want?" Kro pointed out slowly. He was speaking slowly now. Simply. She was being mocked. The realization wasn't a pleasant one. Kro was speaking to her as one would speak to a child.

"You will never gain power so long as you can not control your father's pet project. What if I had a way of relieving that problem?"

"You're working for the... Oh what were they called again... Deceptitrons?" She stumbled over the words, sinking just a bit deeper back into Kro's driver's seat.

"My dear don't disappoint me. I had you pegged for someone who could think outside the box as well. By the way it's Decepticons, not Deceptitrons. The problem with them is that they do are very constricted in their thinking. Destroy this, steal that, but do they get anywhere? No my dear. They don't. Granted I am grateful to them for freeing me from that horrid prison."

"You're showing your gratitude by betraying them?"

Jennifer let out a startled yelp as Kro revved his engine dangerously and sank back. Sore spot apparently...

"I am not betraying them! I may have my own agenda but their cause will be my cause! My gratitude to them extends beyond what I must do now!"

"Sounds like brain washing to me Kro." Jennifer pointed out pulling an irritated growl from Kro. She flinched, immediately rethinking her tactics for the moment. Just because Kro didn't want to have to worry about getting pieces of humans out of his interior didn't mean he wouldn't...

"So what's in it for you? Getting James as something to kick around for a while? You know I'm not going to allow you to murder a fellow human. No matter how much it might gain me though honestly at the moment I don't see how it would..."

"You let me worry about all the details Ms. Knight. For now just look at it this way. What is it that you want?"

"I believe what you believe that I want is money and power." Jennifer mused slowly.

"Don't play logic games with me Ms. Knight. It is what you want. What you've been striving for. Money and power is what James already has. Has by far already achieved. So what can you do that will transfer the balance?"

"You want to give me James's job?" Jennifer questioned slowly, already knowing that was the wrong answer. Still though, the resulting growl told her she was in fact pushing his buttons so to speak.

"Don't allow me to think I've overestimated you again Ms. Knight. That would not be good for you..."

She sighed and nodded, waving a hand for him to go on. "Alright, alright. You take away his money and his power and he gets miserable then you kill him or torture him or ruin him whatever the hell you have in mind. Where do I fit into all this?"

"You my dear are the daughter of Wilton Knight. Think about it long and hard."

"You want me to sway the board." Jennifer mused slowly.

"Very good Ms. Knight! You get a gold star... Though I think you're now underestimating yourself. You can do much more than that. I need to know what's going on in Knight Industries. Mind you that James is my first priority but my second is going to be gaining AI systems for the Decepticon cause."

"What makes you think that I'm going to hand over my father's legacy?" Jennifer pointed out simply.

"For what else my dear? Money and power. Your father's legacy is the only thing keeping you from it. I've said it before and I'll say it again my dear. I am not a bad person to have as an ally. Far from it. I can help you just as much as you can help me."

"Is your new boss going to see it that way?" Jennifer questioned flatly.

"Oh what Megatron doesn't know won't hurt him. He saved me from that prison. He has my loyalty and if you cross that loyalty I promise you I will end our little alliance. However, if you work with me... You will have all the gain without having to deal with the unpleasantries that I will deal with."

Jennifer sat back in the driver's seat and absently settled her hands on Kro's steering wheel as she thought. It was... Tempting... Surprisingly tempting actually.

"Exactly what are you going to do to James?" She questioned after a moment, pulling a chuckle from Kro.

"Don't you mean, can it be tied to you?"

Jennifer gave a hard swallow and nodded. "Of course."

"No. In no way. I'm not going to ask you to get your pretty little hands dirty Jennifer. All I'm asking you to do is move a few pawns into place and place a few moves under my direction. After that all I will ask of you is that you keep me informed."

"And just how am I suppose to do that? A Kro signal?"

Kro gave off a little chuckle for once the sound neither maniacal or cruel sounding. It actually sounded rather amused. One of the monitors lit up and to her surprise a logo flashed across the screen. It looked like the bat signal from the old Batman comic books, with the exception that rather than a bat, the silhouette was in the form of a bird. Presumedly a Crow.

"Wow... A sense of humor. I don't remember them programing that into you."

"You would be amazed at what we AI systems can learn... For now Ms. Jennifer, all I need is your word."

Jennifer sighed heavily and dipped her head in a slow nod.

"Excellent. I have programmed my personal contact number into your cell phone Ms. Knight. Use it wisely." Kro stated simply his driver's side door opening once more to allow the woman out into the hot sun.

"Just one problem Einstein... My driver and car?"

Kro gave a soft chuckle and revved his engine. "A tow truck is already on the way. I'm not so sure they'll find your driver though... You may want to start interviewing applicants when you get back to L.A."

Jennifer sighed heavily and nodded. "I thought you said I wouldn't have to get my hands dirty. This doesn't look good Kro."

"I've already thought of that my dear. According to my resources he has been seeing a doctor for chronic back pain. He's on a rather heavy narcotic because of it. You called 911 a few minutes ago and informed the dispatcher that your driver was acting irrational and claiming to be seeing giants. He then crashed the car and bolted into the desert."

"Do you know how hard it is to find a good driver?" Jennifer snapped irritably, pulling a chuckle from Kro. "Besides that you ripped the door off!"

"Could have happened in the crash. I was careful not to bend it to much. As for your driver's testimony... They won't find him."

"And how do you know that?" Jennifer pointed out, pulling a light chuckle from Kro once more. "You're underestimating me again Jennifer. Trust me."

Jennifer sighed and gave a slight roll of her eyes. "Trust me you say... So how long am I suppose to wait out here?"

"As long as it takes. Think about my proposal while you're waiting. I'll be in touch."

With that Kro was gone, abruptly backing up and pulling away without so much as a whisper. With a heavy sigh Jennifer sat down on the edge of the limo's back seat, staring down at her hands. Just what had she gotten herself into?

A few miles away a rather triumphant Kro pulled to a stop alongside the sober form of a great blue jet. "That's gonna come back and bite ya in the skid plate." Thundercracker monotoned, drawing a chuckle from Kro.

"That's where our opinions differ. Do you think I would have approached her if I didn't think she was incredibly easy to manipulate? Let me worry about Jennifer. You worry about the other AI's. If this works out I'll have my revenge and Megatron will have his AI's. Now what can possibly be wrong with that?"

"Alot if you double cross him..." Thundercracker pointed out.

"Dear lord you're the second one to accuse me of treason today... You can never have enough allies Thundercracker and just because you don't understand my methods does not mean I am not on your side. Give me time to make this work."

Thundercracker sighed and gave a slow nod, his vision turning up towards the sky for a moment. "Fine... But if you get caught it's your fender, not mine."

"Very well. Come along Thunder. We have bigger fish to fry for now..." Kro mused with another insane sounding laugh. Thundercracker sighed and shook his head, taking flight to keep up with the Ferrari on the ground.

"Do you really have to call me Thunder?" Thundercracker abruptly cut in above the roar of engines as the two left the scene behind them.

"Would you prefer Cracker?"

"Thunder it is then..."


End file.
